A/N: Written on the day of my graduate school graduation

Chapter 3: Graduate School

Once again, that day comes.

The day where a person I don't know, hands me a piece of paper in a fancy case that proclaims I know so much. The first time, it was in front of many friends and family, in a big building I'd seen many sports games in. The second, another big building, another gathering of friends and family, another quick reading of the name, and a smile for the picture.

This time, the piece of paper was given to me in a small office. No friends or family, no applause, no beach balls flying around when a principle started to speak. Just a guy searching through some boxes and giving it to me. Not even shaking my hand or congratulating me.

Maybe this is more fitting though. The paper, the diploma represents something different. The end of graduate school, the confirmation that I am a master of science…even though I'm not quite sure how that fits.

This school had been different than the others. All throughout high school, the classes were about knowing the simple facts. Sometimes they were how to spell a certain word, others how to use an equation, or sometimes it was about an event in history.

And then in college things changed. The journey was more about more than facts. It was about probing deeper, knowing why and how, and what it meant in the grand context. From studying the pages of an old book written across countries and centuries with the greatest story ever conceived to studying the ever changing world brought forth by man. Through these years, I found some of the best friends I'd ever had, formed bonds with those who let me become myself, in all the good and bad this would entail.

But that too ended, and I moved onto grad school. I thought things would be the same as they'd always been. Maybe more homework, some more difficult exams, and while these things happened to a degree, they were only the beginning. I saw that no longer was the school just to teach me knowledge, to instruct me in the ways the world worked, but the goal became the challenge to do something never been done before, to create something never before seen.

It is one thing to create a new program, but know that everyone in the class has one that does the same thing.

It's something so much more exciting to finally type that word that describes something no one had done before. No longer a copy of something the professor had seen a hundred times, but something new to humanity. As small a contribution as it may be, the feeling that the knowledge humanity has acquired is in small part because of you is something amazing

That's what I've learned to crave.

The knowledge may offer no practical power, at least at first, but I don't believe any mortal mind can understand how all the pieces may come together. And it's discovering these pieces and seeing how they build upon one another that fascinates me.

I have been blessed in many ways. A creative mind to understand the intangible, to explore worlds of my own creation, to thrive in the words of fantasies, and to ask the bizarre questions. A scientific mind to understand logic and foundations, to explore the rules of the world, and to answer the bizarre questions. I've wondered for so long how these can come together, and I think I understand now.

So I'll continue this path, a researcher.

There is still much I don't know about my future. My job may be set for the next few years, but from there, I don't know. I'm long since passed the point where I'd be asked what I want to be when I grow up, though I'm not much closer to the answer. I think that's okay though. It is the surprised in life that make it fun.

I have also found that most of the grand plans I may have tend to fall apart. Much more often, I'm put in a place not because of my hard work or determination, but because of what some would call chance and others destiny. I'm not the best, in fact there are times when I have no idea how I could keep up. But I've gotten through so far, and it's because of my own failings that I see and understand more clearly. The best opportunities seem to be the ones where I was the least deserving.

On this day of change, I think about those who have surrounded me over these past years. As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.

Words written long ago but words I have seen to be true today. Ideas drawn out on whiteboards, grand schemes designed and destroyed, and ashes of futility coming to life as the puzzle comes together.

With questions come answers, and with these answers come even more questions. And without those around me, I wouldn't even know what questions to ask. But with those around me, I see ways to seek the unbelievable, to define the unknown. I have stood on the shoulders of giants, of those who will likely never know my name. I latch onto but a small fragment of their genius, but then see the next step.

I think about the friends I have made throughout these journeys. Friendships who a decade ago I would have deemed impossible. But as time changes, so do we. I remember the late night drive across a desert, a fun time despite us being ready to sleep for a week when the journey ended. I remember the time in the city that never sleeps, accidently ended up in Time Square. I remember those many late night conversations and the strange sense of belonging in a community invisible to those who only looked at the physical world.

I think about the family that has grown along with me. I see those who look up to me, and those who inspire me, even as they're one in the same. I think about the different paths family members have taken and the directions they have gone through life. I think about the new life entering the family, and a picture that spans 5 generations. It really speak to how this generation has grown up, no longer just the kids, but actual adults now, and those who are now raising their own kids.

I think about myself, the kind of person I am, and the kind of person I want to be

Am I the same person I was 2 years ago when graduated last?

In some ways I hope so.

Will I be the same person I am now two years down the road?

In some ways, I hope not.

Things are going to change, they always do. Maybe it will be the job, maybe it will be the location, maybe it will be the people in the family, or maybe even the world as a whole. I have seen that friendships I have now may not last forever. And that's okay.

New friends will arrive, new stories will be told.

All great chapters someday come to a close. But this is only because an ever greater chapter may be ready to start. So with this piece of paper given to me by a man I don't know, this chapter closes. And for all I know in the world, there are infinitely more things I don't know.

But there are some things I know for sure.

We will go through new things, but also leave others in pieces.

And I still believe the best is yet to come.

A/N: It's been a long time since I wrote anything for Suite Life, I'm afraid this is probably mostly myself with a little bit of Cody here, but maybe this fits. 6 years after he finished high school, maybe he'd take a similar path that I did. It makes me think of all the different stories written here about the twins as adults. From Ellie's Repercussions series and how Cody married London and became a successful businessman to TLA's Boy Disrupted where Cody tried to kill himself. One's things for sure, the authors here knew how to be creative. And now I'm getting all nostalgic for those fun times with the other authors. We met 5-6 years ago, but still keep in contact, at least somewhat, and I think that's really cool.

But yeah, enough rambling from me. Review if you feel like it; I still love getting those.