There’s a tradition at my school: teachers grab a drink after work on Fridays. I think it’s been happening for years, but it’s a tradition that has really come into it’s own recently. And normally on Friday five to fifteen of us go to a local watering hole and unwind. Stories are shared, annoyances are vented, and we get to actually enjoy each other’s company for longer than the frequent “how’s it going?” as we pass through the hallways of the school like ships in the night.

Each Friday around 1pm an email gets sent out by the “leaders” of happy hour which pokes fun at the school and the goings on of that week. This week, I accepted an invitation to be a guest writer:

Dear thirsty compatriots,Sam Shah, guest writer extrodinarie here. I thought in light of the school’s committment to self-reflection and goal-setting, that I would share with you one of my SMARTgoals.

Currently, as a first year math teacher, there are a number of areas in which I can improve: namely bring in more cupcakes. But that goal doesn’t quit fit any tenets of teaching. (But it is a tenet of being a good person.) Our plane would still fly whether there were cupcakes on the fold-down trays or not.

What would make the plane crash, literally and metaphorically, is if there was no fuel. And addressing that is my SMARTgoal. Keep yourself well-fueled. As the new school nurse said to the US this week, hydrate yourself. It wards off the colds that cause 2.2million days of school lost, and keeps you focused and attentive to help students out. (And bake cupcakes.) So my SMARTgoal is:

Be healthy. Drink copious amounts of beverages of all kinds in equal measure frequently. That means… well… you know where this is going…

[Bar Name Here]

Today. 4pm.

AND LET THE NEW HEALTH REGIMEN BEGIN!

Recently I’ve been going to happy hour and I have a better and better time each week. The bartender (she works every Friday) has gotten to know me well enough that she asked “hey is your crew coming today?” and then she gave me 2 free Guinesses! And afterwards, I went to dinner with three teachers.

The best part about all of this is that this is exactly the place where I feel like I’m becoming part of the community. It’s where we talk about things and (best of all) I hear gossip.

Gosh I love gossip.