Taylor Swift Receives an Honorary Degree at New York University
Taylor Swift delivers an emotional speech as she accepts an honour already bestowed on Bill Clinton and Aretha Franklin.
Taylor Swift has just received an honorary doctorate from New York University. The 32-year-old singer was honoured as a Doctor of Fine Arts by NYU and even wore a gown to receive the title. “I'm 90% sure I'm here because I have a song called '22',” she joked at the beginning of her speech.
Such an honour has already been bestowed on Bill Clinton and Aretha Franklin. In her moving speech, Taylor encouraged the graduates to make the most of the choices they make throughout their lives. "Life can be heavy - especially if you try to carry it all at once... all the grudges, all the updates about your ex... You can choose what your life has time and space for," she began.
The singer also congratulated all the students who attended college during the pandemic, saying it was a challenge because of the unusual circumstances. "Never be shy about trying, lack of effort is a myth," she said. Taylor dropped out of school before she even completed high school in order to devote herself to music and because of that, she never attended graduation.
“I would like to thank NYU for technically making me, at least on paper, a doctor. Not the kind of doctor you would want to have around in an emergency, unless your emergency is like creating a composition. Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who could name 100+ cat breeds in a minute."
The singer rescued different, controversial and difficult moments of her life throughout the speech. “I know the pressure of living your life through the lens of perfectionism. And I know I'm talking to perfectionists because you are here today graduating from NYU ,” she declared. To conclude, Taylor recalled a striking hit from a few years ago: "Let's keep dancing like we're the class of 22".
