Taylor Swift rose to fame at the age of 16 when her debut album was released and has faced her share of criticism and disputes within the music industry. On Wednesday, the pop superstar imparted several “life hacks” to the fresh graduates of New York University (NYU).
Swift also received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from NYU. In her now-viral commencement speech, the multiple Grammy-winner imparted several “life hacks” to the fresh graduates.
Recounting lessons from her 15-year long career, Swift said, “learn to live alongside cringe”. “No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively,” she told during the graduation ceremony that took place at the Yankee Stadium in New York City.
The singer-songwriter also spoke about living with public scrutiny. “Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever-fluctuating social relevance and likability,” said Taylor Swift.
Later in the speech, she indirectly touched upon the backlash she faced after her infamous phone call with Kanye West was made public. “Getting cancelled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine,” she joked.
Swift ended her 20-minute long speech by referring to her super-hit song 22 and said, “I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re…the class of 22.”
After her speech went viral, many ‘Swifties’—as Taylor Swift fans are known—soon began trending “Dr. Taylor Swift” on Twitter.
I’m feeling ’22 with @taylorswift13!
Met Taylor and picked up an honorary degree today, thank you @nyuniversity! pic.twitter.com/sSoDmdG2bU
— Félix V. Matos Rodríguez (@ChancellorCUNY) May 18, 2022
so I brought my rep room pic w Taylor and sat in the 1st row. When she was walking by, she saw me holding up the pic, blew us a kiss, said “I love you” and “THAT IS SO CUTE”💜💜I literally went hysterical and passed out right after😭 pic.twitter.com/PofO79OceQ
— kev🦖 (@acupofkev) May 18, 2022
You’re on your You’re on your
own now own now pic.twitter.com/vaAvdpcyuv— liz ✨ (@feverdreamliz) May 18, 2022
“I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go. I have some good news: it’s totally up to you. I also have some terrifying news: it’s totally up to you.” – @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/Y8mEwqgdZw
— New York University (@nyuniversity) May 18, 2022
ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Taylor Swift 😌 pic.twitter.com/TeNzZzHCw1
— fern (@roaring20y) May 18, 2022
dr taylor swift is my therapist actually pic.twitter.com/0rO7rJk42T
— soph (@augustafairy) May 18, 2022
“being embarrassed when you mess up? that’s part of the human experience. getting back up, dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it: that’s a gift.” – dr. taylor swift#22GraduatesVersion pic.twitter.com/UIEZu5MZ2v
— aly (@folklorictale) May 18, 2022
Dr. Taylor Swift is here. ❤️#22GraduatesVersion pic.twitter.com/z7qdDGnwHB
— Dr. Taylor Swift Facts (@TSwiftFTC) May 18, 2022
Dr. Taylor Swift pic.twitter.com/dzUJfKYgfT
— taylor swift fan art (@taylor_fanart) May 19, 2022
Before the commencement ceremony, Swift had posted a small video on her Instagram account that showed her getting ready in her graduation gown for the ceremony. She captioned the video, “
Wearing a cap and gown for the very first time – see you soon NYU ”
