“You Will Get To Pick What Your Life Has Time, Room For”: Taylor Swift During NYU Speech

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift received an honorary doctorate from New York University on Wednesday. She told the graduates that everything would be all right, echoing the sentiments of her hit single Shake It Off from her album called 1989.

Swift’s discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting is often inspired by her personal life. She has received critical praise and widespread media coverage.

Taylor Swift NYU Speech

The 32-year-old urged students to make most of their choices. "Life can be heavy - especially if you try to carry it all at once... all the grudges, all the updates on your ex.... You get to pick what your life has time and room for," Swift said, praising the graduates for taking up the challenge of attending college during pandemic.

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The Grammy winner was among three recipients of honorary degrees from the university. For Taylor, it was the first college degree she has ever received. She had performed in concert tours while in high school. According to sources, NYU offers a course on Taylor Swift, including her evolution as a musician and entrepreneur.

Taking a moment to reflect on her career so far, Swift continued in her speech, "Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I was constantly being issued warnings from older members of the music industry, the media, interviewers, executives. This advice often presented itself as thinly veiled warnings."

"See, I was a teenager in the public eye at a time when our society was absolutely obsessed with the idea of having perfect young female role models." She finished her speech punning on the lyrics of her song titled 22. “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,” Swift said.

In a statement by the NYU President Andrew Hamilton, he said, “I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to be coming together in person with graduates, parents, faculty and honorees for NYU’s commencement.”

He further mentioned that since 2019, there has been no graduating or welcoming ceremony, the absence of which has been “keenly felt". The classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020 will be honored  for having distinguished themselves with their “grit, grace, and forbearance.” “We reconvene at Yankee Stadium with a renewed sense of appreciation for the act of celebrating together in person, a recognition of our graduates’ enormous achievements, and a respect for their character and perseverance,” Hamilton said.

According to Rolling Stone, in June, Swift will be appearing at Tribeca Film Festival for a special screening of All Too Well: The Short Film at New York City’s Beacon Theater. In addition, she will sit down for a conversation about the processes about her writing, directing and producing it. She will also make her first film appearance since 2019’s Cats in David O. Russell’s film Amsterdam. It will reportedly hit theaters in November.