Taylor Swift gets honorary degree from New York University

18 May 2022, 19:54

NYU Graduation
NYU Graduation. Picture: PA

Swift shared advice with the class of 2022 but offered the warning that, ‘I in no way feel qualified to tell you what to do’.

Taylor Swift has Grammys galore and now she has a new title — “doctor”.

The superstar received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from New York University on Wednesday, blowing kisses as the crowd roared when she walked toward the stage at a packed Yankee Stadium.

Sporting her signature red lipstick and newly awarded honorary robe, Swift joked to the thousands of graduates assembled: “I’m 90% sure the main reason I’m here is because I have a song called 22.

NYU Graduation
Taylor Swift waves to graduates (Seth Wenig/AP)

“I never got to have a normal college experience per se. I went to public high school until 10th grade and then finished my education doing home school work on the floor of airport terminals,” Swift said in her commencement speech.

The singer-songwriter, producer and director said that she began her music career at 15, touring different radio stations across the country.

She went on to sell more than 100 million albums and won album of the year at the 2021 Grammys for her album Folkore, making her the first person to win the category three times.

Her previous wins came in 2010 for Fearless and 2016 for 1989.

She winked at the crowd when Jason King of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music mentioned her newly rerecorded albums, including Fearless.

NYU Graduation
Taylor Swift receives her honorary degree (Seth Wenig/AP)

Swift shared advice with the class of 2022 but offered the warning that, “I in no way feel qualified to tell you what to do. You’ve worked and struggled and sacrificed and studied and dreamed your way here today. I won’t tell you what to do because nobody likes that, but I will however give you life hacks for when I was starting out my dreams as a career.

“Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth,” she said.

Swift concluded her speech by telling graduates that making mistakes is inevitable but “when hard things happen to us, we will recover, we will learn from it, we will grow more resilient because of it. As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep and breathe out. I am a doctor now so I know how breathing works.

“I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you,” she said. “We’re doing this together so let’s just keep on dancing like we’re the class of 22.”

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Australia Cyber Safety

Google, Meta and others face questions in Australia over cyber extremism threats

People-Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez divorce after nearly three years

Japan Economy

Japanese central bank raises interest rate for first time in 17 years

United Nations Nuclear Weapons

US and Japan seek UN resolution banning nuclear weapons in outer space

Election 2024 Trump

‘Impossible’ for Trump to post civil fraud bond of £356m, say lawyers

Georgia Election Indictment Lawmakers

Trump seeks to appeal against decision not to disqualify DA in Georgia case

Mike Lynch court case

Fallen tech star Mike Lynch painted as fraud mastermind in Hewlett-Packard trial

Russia Crimea

Putin extends rule in Russian election after harshest crackdown since Soviet era

Vacationing Mom Toddler Death

Ohio woman given life after child died when she left her alone to go on holiday

Transgender Athletes Ban New York Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner backs New York county’s ban on transgender female athletes

A Mayor Eric Adams standing on a stage in front of an audience engaging them with a speech

New York mayor Eric Adams accused of sexually assaulting woman in 1993

Biden Netanyahu

Netanyahu agrees to send officials to US to discuss prospective Rafah operation

Palestinians rush to collect the humanitarian aid airdropped into Gaza City, Gaza Strip on March 17 (Mohammed Hajjar/AP)

‘Famine imminent’ in northern Gaza as 70% face ‘catastrophic hunger’

Music-Country Hall of Fame

James Burton, John Anderson and Toby Keith join Country Music Hall of Fame

Russia Election

What the Russian election reveals about Putin’s rule

Obit-Stafford

Astronaut Thomas Stafford, commander of Apollo 10, dies aged 93