Um, that’s Dr. Taylor Swift for you! New York University (NYU) awards the “All Too Well” singer a well-deserved honorary doctorate.
The singer earned a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, degree and threw down her cap after addressing the college class of 2022 on May 18 at Yankee Stadium.
“Hi my name is Taylor, last time I was in a stadium this size I was dancing in heels and wearing a sparkly leotard,” she joked as she started her speech. After thanking NYU, she continued her witty remark saying “As for me, I’m 90% sure I’m here because I have a song called ’22’. And let me just say that I am delighted to be with you here today as we celebrate and graduate New York University’s 22-year class.
Her inspirational speech began after she joked that none of the graduates had “done it alone”, adding that “we are each a patchwork of those who loved us, those who believed in our future, those who showed us empathy and kindness or told us the truth even when it was not easy to hear Those who told us we could do it when there was no absolutely no evidence of this.
Taylor found time to thank her mom, dad and brother Austin “for the sacrifices they made every day so that I could go from singing in coffee shops to standing here with all of you today,” clapping all graduate parents, family members, mentors, teachers, allies, friends and loved ones.
She also addressed the fact that there was some controversy with her receiving the honorary doctorate, reaffirming her thanks to NYU “for technically making me, on paper at least, a doctor,” but “not the type. doctor you would want in the event of an emergency, unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section.Or if your emergency was that you needed of a person who can name more than 50 breeds of cats in one minute.”
Taylor admitted that although she dreamed of going to college as a teenager, she knew it wasn’t in the card for her as she completed her education via homeschooling while on tour , traveling by bus and plane. “As a child, I always thought I would go to college, imagining the posters I would hang on my freshman dorm wall,” she said. “I even put the end of my music video for my song ‘Love Story’ in my fantasy fantasy college, where I meet a male model reading a book on the grass, and with just a glance we realize that we have been in love in our past lives.”
After acknowledging the challenges the Class of 2022 faced with the COVID-19 pandemic changing schooling to become mostly virtual, Taylor offered free advice to graduates. First, she said “life can be heavy”, so you have to learn “what things to keep and what things to release”.
Next, the singer said it was important “to learn to live with teeth grinding” because “No matter how hard you try to avoid grinding your teeth, you will look back on your life and grind your teeth. teeth in retrospect,” before joking that “You’re probably doing or wearing something right now that you’ll come back to later and find revolting and hilarious.”
Poking fun at her “1950s housewife” clothing choices in 2012, the crowd could clearly be heard roaring with laughter for their speaker, before she gave a closer look at her own life.
Speaking about her experience growing up in the public eye in the 2000s and 2010s, she said: “Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I constantly received warnings from members seniors in the music industry, media, investigators, executives, etc. This advice often came as thinly veiled warnings.
“I was a teenager in the public eye at a time when our society was absolutely obsessed with having perfect young female role models,” she continued. day ‘derail.’ So I became a young adult while receiving the message that if I made no mistakes, all of America’s children would become perfect angels. However, if I made a mistake, the whole earth would fall off its axis. and it would be all my fault and i would go to jail for a pop star forever and ever. It was all centered around the idea that mistakes equal failure and ultimately the loss of any chance of a happy or fulfilling life.
She chastised what she was told, saying, “That hasn’t been my experience. My experience has been that my mistakes have led to the best things in my life.”
After saying that the public treated her love life like “a spectator sport” and that she was sometimes “publicly humiliated,” Taylor took a moment to seemingly address Kanye’s 2016 drama, saying “Being canceled on the internet and almost losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all types of wine.”
Before concluding, Swift said, “We are driven by our instincts, our intuition, our desires and our fears, our scars and our dreams. And when I do, you’ll most likely read it on the internet.”
To thunderous applause, Taylor ended her epic speech with the farewell every Swiftie has been waiting for: “I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We do it together. So let’s keep dancing. as if we were… the class of 22.”
On the way to the ceremony, Swift posted a TikTok video where she was seen wearing her purple graduation outfit, a little black dress and leopard print heels. “Wearing a cap and dress for the very first time – see you NYU soon,” Swift captioned the video.
Prior to the March 28 announcement that Swift would become an NYU alumnus, the university had already shown her academic reverence. NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music launched a new course in January, focusing on the business and songwriting practices of the singer-songwriter, as well as how fandom, gender and race collide in the music industry.
Taylor is certainly no stranger to accolades – think back to her 11 Grammy Awards, 23 Billboard Music Awards and impressive winning streak from albums like Without fear, Redand 1989. It strikes differently though, as this is Taylor’s first academic award.
To celebrate her graduation, Taylor recently created a new line of products for recent college graduates called the “I’m Feeling ’22” Graduation Collection. Dr. Swift really has thought of everything. The range includes patches and charms to decorate your graduation cap, party supplies like balloons and cake toppers, and just about anything an academically inclined Swiftie could want to commemorate the occasion.
As a 22-year-old grad, I’m going to stock up on these *super cute* sweaters featuring a Meredith emblem surrounded by the lyrics to the song “Happy, Free, Confused, and Lonely at the same time.”
Abby is an editorial assistant at Seventeen, covering pop culture, beauty, life and health. When she’s not busy watching the latest true-crime docu-series, you can find her strolling through Sephora, finding the perfect dress, or jogging with her pup.