Congratulations to our graduates — sort of! While some stars have continued their Hollywood career while completing a college degree, other celebs have been honored with degrees from various universities.
Taylor Swift for one, received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from New York University in May 2022. She also delivered a 25-minute heartwarming speech to the graduates.
“As a kid, I always thought I would go away to college, imagining the posters I’d hang on the wall of my freshman dorm,” the songstress said during her speech. “I even set the ending of my music video for my song ‘Love Story’ at my fantasy imaginary college, where I meet a male model reading a book on the grass and with one single glance, we realize we had been in love in our past lives — which is exactly what you guys all experienced at some point in the last four years, right?”
Taylor continued, “I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted, too. 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. You get what you get. And as I would like to say to you, you should be very proud of what you’ve done with it. Today you leave New York University, and then you go out into the world searching for what’s next. And so will I.”
While making jokes — and song references — the “Look What You Made Me Do” musician also offered the graduates some amazing advice.
“I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be and when, who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go,” she said, in part. “I have some good news: It’s totally up to you. I have some terrifying news: It’s totally up to you.”
Years prior, Taylor’s real-life BFF Ed Sheeran was also honored at a different university. He was given an honorary doctorate from University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich, which is part of England.
“I graduated today, I am now officially Dr. Sheeran,” the singer wrote on Instagram in October 2015.
Scroll through our gallery to see which celebs have received honorary degrees.
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