Life as a freshling begins again.

I've found that everyone in my incoming class of 36 knows my name, which is unusual. I accredit it to the fact that I make so much noise and have become, "the dude who asks lots and lots of questions no one can answer." As I'm not taking classes, I haven't distinguished myself as, "the smart one" sadly enough. Then again, I've never been that guy in the past. Such titles are important right now because at the end of this month, we will have to choose our bosses for the next 4 years. Once we've made our choices (and our choices have also chosen us), our bargaining power will vanish, and we will all be demoted to "lab bitch." Naturally, we must choose wisely.

To be honest, I feel like I've just put on the choixpeau magique.

So there's Hufflepuff: They do microelectronics. They'll take anyone who wants to join. I can't detect any hot shots or any super flashy work. The headmaster is cool and easy to talk to. I like him.

And Ravenclaw: "If you don't think you're hot shit, you'll never make it," quoted their chief during his presentation. He's known to be intense and protest vacation time. But hey, he's "the God of Membranes," so what do you expect?

Then there's the infamous Gryffindor: This action oriented group always works in teams. They are a diverse group that do everything from biofuels, to nanomaterials, to unconventional chemistry, to supercritical reactions, to classic separations. All the insecure people seem to gravitate towards this group as they present a flashy, alluring, but "safe" image. In their defense, the members do great work and are lots of fun. Everyone loves them... except of course the Syltherins .

Syltherin: They do heterogeneous catalysis and a few other things. The big shots always want to join this group. It's smaller and more selective than are the Ravenclaws, so lots get shot down. The head prof. is demanding, but no one complains. Most are happy to be the ones known to take their work more seriously than the rest. This group has a decent number of high profile projects that are risky, but hey, if they work, the student is on top of the world.

Anyone want to guess the group to which I'm gravitating?