[imagesource: AP Photo / Seth Wenig]

Taylor Swift just bagged an honorary doctorate of fine arts from New York University (NYU).

To mark the occasion, she gave a commencement speech with some candid “life hacks” to the 2022 graduating audience at yesterday’s ceremony.

It turns out that her life advice is just what the ‘doctor’ ordered.

The singer-songwriter got real and vulnerable about growing up and dating in the public eye, as well as her experience of “cringe” and getting cancelled.

According to HuffPost, Swift never went to college or completed high school in the traditional sense, being homeschooled instead, due to her breakout success as a teenager.

She took the stage at Yankee Stadium to share everything she has learned about “navigating life, love, pressure, choices, shame, hope and friendship”.

“Wearing a cap and gown for the very first time” instead of “dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard” was a big moment for the 32-year-old:

 

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

Her biggest takeaway?

One of Taylor Swift’s lessons for NYU’s Class of ’22? ‘Learn to live alongside cringe’ pic.twitter.com/pFN5NuVtCp

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 18, 2022

Also:

‘If I did slip up…I would go to pop star jail forever and ever’ — Taylor Swift talks about the sexism that she faced and the perfection that was expected of her in the spotlight pic.twitter.com/cvkpM3CJKP

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 18, 2022

It’s all classic Taylor Swift life advice.

Her emotional intelligence and self-reflection shone though as she acknowledged how her “mistakes led to the best things in my life”:

“Having journalists write in-depth, oftentimes critical, pieces about who they perceive me to be made me feel like I was living in some weird simulation, but it also made me look inward to learn about who I actually am,” she said.

“Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and 20s, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely.”

She certainly has a talent for what is equivalent to stuffing struggle into a cupcake and eating it:

“We are led by our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. And you will screw it up sometimes. So will I,” she said. “And when I do, you will most likely read about it on the internet.”

“As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works.”

Here’s the full speech:

The university honoured her as “one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation”. It also hosts a class about her songwriting and evolution as an artist.

Congrats, Taylor. Dare I say I like you even more now.

[source:huffpost]