Taylor Swift's NYU Commencement Speech (2022)

Last time I was in a stadium this size, I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotardA tight-fitting one-piece garment worn by dancers.

This outfit is much more comfortable.

I would like to say a huge thank you to NYU's Chair of the Board of TrusteesPeople appointed to manage funds or property for an organization., Bill Berkley, and all the trusteesPeople appointed to manage funds or property for an organization. and members of the board.

NYU's President Andrew Hamilton, ProvostThe chief academic officer of a university. Katherine Fleming, and the faculty and alumni here today, who have made this day possible.

I feel so proud to share this day with my fellow honoreesPeople who are being honored or awarded. Susan Hockfield and Félix Matos Rodríguez, who humbleTo make someone feel less proud or important. me with the ways they improve our world with their work.

As for me, I'm 90% sure the main reason I'm here is because I have a song called "22."

And let me just say, I am elatedExtremely happy and excited. to be here with you today, as we celebrate and graduate New York University's Class of 2022.

Not a single one of us here today has done it alone.

We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us, those who have believed in our futures,

those who showed us empathyThe ability to understand and share the feelings of another. and kindness, or told us the truth, even when it wasn't easy to hear.

Those who told us we could do it when there was absolutely no proof of that.

Someone read stories to you and taught you to dream and offered up some moral code of right and wrong for you to try and live by.

Someone tried their best to explain every concept in this insanelyUsed to emphasize that something is very extreme or intense. complex world to the child that was you,

as you asked a bazillionAn extremely large but indefinite number (informal). questions, like how does the moon work and why can we eat salad, but not grass?

And maybe they didn't do it perfectly—no one ever can.

Maybe they aren't with us anymore.

In that case, I hope you'll remember them today.

If they are in this stadium, I hope you'll find your own way to express your gratitude for all the steps and misstepsMistakes or errors in judgment or action. that have led us to this common destination.

I know that words are supposed to be my thing, but I will never be able to find the words to thank my mom and dad, my brother Austin, for the sacrificesThe act of giving up something valuable for the sake of something else..

They made every day, so I could go from singing in coffeehouses to standing up here with you all today, because no words would ever be enough.

To all the incredible parents, family members, mentors, teachers, alliesA person or group that cooperates with another for a common purpose., friends, and loved ones here today, who have supported these students in their pursuit of educational enrichmentThe action of improving or enhancing the quality of something..

Let me say to you now: Welcome to New York.

It's been waiting for you.

I'd like to thank NYU for making me technically, on paper at least, a doctor.

Not the type of doctor you would want around in case of an emergency,

unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely catharticproviding psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions. bridge section.

Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute.

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 homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals.