Taylor Swift tells grads to embrace cringe in NYU commencement speech - CNN

(CNN)Taylor Swift famously sang about "feeling 22." A decade later, she's celebrating it -- the class of '22, that is.

The prolific pop singer received an honorary doctorate of fine arts on Wednesday from New York University, and also delivered this year's commencement speech at Yankee Stadium.

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

Despite not receiving a four-year college experience, Swift used her almost 20-minute speech to give the recent graduates "life hacks" on navigating post-graduate and early career life, including "life can be heavy," to "learn to live alongside cringe."

Taylor Swift waves at graduating students during New York University's commencement ceremony for the class of 2022.

"Hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it. As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out," she said. "And I'm a doctor now, so I know how breathing works."

Swift was first announced as the commencement speaker for NYU back in March to mass excitement from fans of the 11-time Grammy winner. Some even tried to buy tickets to the ceremony from graduating students.

Prior to the graduation, NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music also featured an entire course on Taylor Swift this year, taught by Rolling Stone writer Brittany Spanos. The course covered Swift's rise to pop stardom, as well as her public persona.

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Taylor Swift tells grads to embrace cringe in NYU commencement speech - CNN
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