My first semester of my senior year is the first time in my life I have experienced a high degree of failure. By no means am I making excuses for my shortcomings, rather this essay is an examination of a point in my life in which I did not produce the results I set out to achieve. My failure to recognize my own physical, mental, and emotional limits leaves me in the gutters of my psyche. The belief that I am "invincible" is a lie, and my failure to understand that I too have a breaking point must be recognized so I may keep moving forward. There are 24 hours in one day, and there is still enough time for me to do anything I NEED to do. As an elite ice hockey player in Southern California and diligent student my schedule is loaded from 5 A.M. to 1 A.M. every day. Every morning, I wake up at 5 A.M., go to school for zero period and then leave after sixth to get home around 5P.M. From then until 6 P.M. I must complete all my homework, eat some dinner, and study for exams before I leave for hockey practice 45 minutes away. Hockey practice consists of flexibility training, heavy lifting, and a two hour ice slot lasting from 7P.M to 12A.M. It is not until 12:30 that my day is over and I may go to sleep. Repeat Monday through Friday. Welcome to my never ending hell, the hell I created for myself because of my inability to recognize my limit. On top of my daily schedule, my monthly schedule includes at one, 5 day trip out of state to participate in a hockey tournament. Each trip I go on, I miss 3 to 4 school days. From August to December that is 20 days of school (out of 90 in the semester) missed just from hockey. How did I believe that I could keep up with such a rigorous schedule and compete at the highest ice hockey level in the nation? People ask me: Do you sleep, do you do homework, do you eat, do you ever hang out with friends? If I were to stay up and finish all my homework, when would I sleep? I get less than 20 hours of sleep dur