Joni Mitchell was presented with an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College Of Music at a private ceremony that took place in Santa Monica, California recently. “Well, luckily I’m too old to get a swelled head,” Mitchell said at the event, per a press release. “It’s a beautiful event. Words can’t describe it. I’ve got my good friends here with me.”

“I wish my parents were alive,” Mitchell continued. “My mother in particular would be really proud of this because she wanted me to go to college. I went to art school and I quit after a year. She thinks of me as a quitter. So to see this achievement would be really impressive to her. I wish I could share it with her.”

The doctorate was presented by Berklee president Erica Muhl and Terri Lyne Carrington, the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute Of Jazz And Gender Justice. “I am thrilled that we are finally able to honor Joni Mitchell,” Carrington said during an introduction. “Her career and social principles stand for the values our institute pursues—imagination, freedom, equity, and identity. I can think of no one more deserving.”

Last month, Mitchell made a surprise appearance to perform at the Newport Folk Festival.

Here’s another photo of Mitchell from the ceremony with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter: