Taylor Swift's NYU Speech Urges Class Of 2022 To 'Live Alongside Cringe'

mtv.com:

Taylor Swift achieved her “Wildest Dreams” on Wednesday (May 18), receiving an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from New York University and walking onstage in a cap and gown for graduation at Yankee Stadium to deliver an inspiring speech to the Class of 2022. “I’d like to thank NYU for making me technically, on paper at least, a doctor,” she said. “Not the type of doctor you would want around in the case 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.” On her social media, she posted a video of herself getting ready for the commencement.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cds4SYElpYz/ “I’m 90 percent sure the main reason I’m here is because I have a song called ‘22’,” she joked.

Quite unfortunately, the speech turned out to extend a minute over the 22-minute mark. But she also could not resist extending a “Welcome to New York” to the entire audience. “It’s been waiting for you,” she said.

During her speech, she congratulated the graduates for their achievements. Although she never attended college, she empathized with the graduates’ unusual university experience during the global COVID-19 pandemic. “I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted too,” she said. “But in this case, you and I both learned that you don’t always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery service that is life.” Having been in the public eye of fame since she was a teenager and understanding the fear of perfectionism and failure, the pop superstar reflected on her life and the lessons she learned.