Imagine growing up in Newtown, Conn., a deep-rooted American town forever changed by one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history.
Imagine living inside a horrific national tragedy, seeing your friends and classmates deal with the sudden, tragic loss of their little brothers and sisters.
Imagine the profound shock, sorrow and grief.
And imagine how that would shape your view of the world.
It forces a child to learn the fragility of life. And the importance of living.
Really living.
That's the path Ben Mason traveled before joining Michigan's football team as an early enrollee linebacker this semester.