FARGO – Carson Musser walked up to his teacher's desk last May with the packet for his AP national calculus exam and put it on his desk. As if a calculus test for college credit wasn't hard enough, there was the added wrinkle of Musser waiting to be picked in the United States Hockey League draft, which was going on during his test.

After he turned in his exam, which he passed for college credit, his teacher turned his computer screen toward Musser and there it was. Musser was drafted in the first round by the Fargo Force.

"It was relieving and exciting, but nervous too," Musser said. "This was my future. I called my mom and, of course, the first thing she did was ask about the test. Then, I went home and looked up stuff about Fargo."

The USHL Phase 1 draft was Monday, May 2, and the Phase 2 draft will be Tuesday, May 3. These teenagers, like many, are heading to places they've never lived, but those in junior hockey have a bit of a different experience than those headed to college campuses to get a degree.

Musser was afraid initially to go and take food from the kitchen of his billet family in Fargo. Those initial awkward moments, living in someone else's house, aren't even the hardest part for a junior hockey player.

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Musser was one of the lucky ones. He was already committed to Bowling Green State University for college and was headed to the USHL to prepare for the next level. But there are some players that will not only head to an unfamiliar place and live with a family they don't know, but they will head to the USHL hoping to get a college scholarship for themselves. If they don't, they're back to Square 1.

"For some guys, it's a risk," Musser said. "What makes people take that risk is how much they love hockey and how good of a league the USHL is. It is a big risk. All your classmates and all your friends you grew up with are going to college. They're getting a start on their lives, picking degrees. They're getting their schooling done and getting a head start. You're here playing hockey, not going to school."

Force center Blake Lizotte just finished his rookie season third among rookies in points in the USHL with 46. He went from Chisago Lakes (Minn.) High School to playing in Minot, N.D., eight hours away from home, for a season in the North American Hockey League and currently Fargo before he heads to St. Cloud State. He was on the bus coming back from an NAHL playoff game in Austin, Minn., when he found out he was drafted by the Force.

There was no doubt in his mind when he decided to dedicate his life to hockey.

"I think when I was like 11 or 12, I realized I was pretty decent at hockey. That's when I kind of started working hard and committing most of my life and time to hockey," Lizotte said. "Right then and there you kind of make a decision that you're going to work for it."

Musser played 51 games in his rookie season as a defenseman with the Force this past season, scoring one goal and notching seven assists. He has some advice for the newly drafted USHL players.

"It was a grind," Musser said. "Everybody is so much faster. The compete and skill level is so much higher than what I was used to competing at. Everyone is good. You can't waste a day. Everyday you're here you need to be getting better and improving. There'll be days where maybe you won't want to practice or lift because you're exhausted mentally and physically, but you have to keep plugging away. You have to get better every day. The opportunity you have, not a lot of people have."