Bruce Springsteen urged students at Boston College on Thursday to "absorb every day" of their time in school, saying he passed on the college experience and had to make up for it later.
The singer and songwriter addressed first-year and transfer students in a virtual convocation ceremony. The incoming class had been assigned to read his autobiography, "Born to Run" as part of a summer reading series.
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Springsteen, who dropped out of college, encouraged students not to "neglect the life of your mind."
"I missed that my first time around and I had to do my best to make up for it on my own,'' he said. "I had to seek my teachers and my mentors in libraries and on the street. It works, but I was not able to immerse myself in a place entirely dedicated to learning, and I wish that I had."
The annual convocation ceremony is typically held on campus but was moved online because of the coronavirus. Springsteen's son graduated from Boston College in 2012.
