Taylor Swift receives an honorary degree and addresses NYU graduating class

The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter received a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, from the Manhattan-based university Wednesday, delivering the commencement speech with a timely joke.

"Hi, I'm Taylor," she said when addressing the crowd after receiving her honorary degree. "Last time I was in a stadium this size I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard. This outfit is much more comfortable."

Swift, entered the stadium in the same procession as the rest of the students wearing doctoral regalia and a red lip while throwing up peace signs and waving to audience members before taking her spot with the rest of the commencement's platform party.

Swift said that growing up in the music industry meant that people were constantly giving her advice with the motive of helping the star lead a life of pop star perfection. She said her adviser's ideology centered the idea that "mistakes equal failure," but she learned that her mistakes have actually been the "best things" in life. "Getting canceled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine," Swift quipped.

As her speech drew to a close, Swift reminded students that they didn't need to be perfect. She told them that they will all make mistakes. "We are led by our gut instincts ... and you will screw it up sometimes, and so will I ... we will breathe in, breathe though, breathe deep and breathe out," she said. "And I am a doctor now, so I know how breathing works."

"The main reason I'm here is because I have a song called '22,'" she said as she thanked the university, praised the graduates and expressed gratitude for her parents.

She went on to joke about why she was likely selected by NYU to receive the honor this year. "I'm 90 percent sure the reason I'm here is because I have a song called '22,'" she said, adding that she was elated to celebrate the graduating class.

"I'd like to thank NYU for making me, technically, on paper at least, a doctor," said Swift, who stopped formal schooling after 10th grade, depending on homeschooling for the rest of her education. "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."

When the pop star was announced as both a degree recipient and speaker in March, Swifties went into a frenzy. Many haggled NYU students for tickets to the event, NBC New York reported, and offered them money to get a ticket to graduation.

Each student gets two commencement tickets, according to the university, which also has a policy in place that bans students from selling or auctioning off their commencement tickets.

Swift’s commencement speech came the same year she was part of the NYU curriculum. The university’s Clive Davis Institute held its first-ever course all about the artist, taught by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos.