The Marquette Tribune

Sweetin brings in a ‘Full House’

By rincey.abraham@marquette.edu. Published April 24, 2007.

Weasler Auditorium was filled to capacity Monday – and students were turned away at the door – to hear "Full House" co-star, Jodie Sweetin.

Steve Ryan, MUSG program vice president and senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the auditorium was filled to its 500 person capacity 20 minutes before the event started and between 50 to 75 students were not allowed to enter.

"This was the largest venue we could get at this time and date for the amount of time we wanted," Ryan said.

Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner, the middle child on "Full House," a popular early '90s sitcom, spoke about her addiction to drugs and alcohol that eventually lead to a trip to the emergency room in March 2005.

"I'm incredibly lucky to be doing what I get to do," said Sweetin, 25. "I've made it through things that a lot of people have not made it through."

After the cancellation of "Full House" in 1995, she said she started high school at 13 feeling insecure about herself. She wanted to prove to everyone she was not Tanner, so said she began going out and partying with people much older than her.

She said her parents were worried about her behavior as it got worse through high school. When she left for college, they required that she come home for weekends. However, Sweetin decided this meant she would go out Monday through Thursday before going home for the weekend to recover.

Sweetin's first semester of college ended with her nearly getting kicked out of the dorms. With a 0.9 GPA, she said she decided to stop drinking, but would continue using drugs.

"I was so busy trying to chase after the next fix – the next thing that would make me feel better – that I lost my academic scholarship. I lost my friends. And I nearly lost myself," she said.

She said she eventually had a moment of clarity after a few nights of partying. She thought she needed to go home immediately, otherwise she may not choose to stop again. She went home for a week and, at 18, she went sober for the first time in years.

Sweetin said she eventually went back to college, graduated and got married in 2002. However, the little voice in her head came back saying she could handle alcohol better now that she was older. In October 2002, she relapsed, crawling home after a night of drinking.

She began hanging out with friends from high school who were into harder drugs. These friends introduced Sweetin to speed and she said within one month, she was doing it every day all day. Within 2 years, she lost all her real relationships with family and friends.

"It took me down harder than anything that I have ever experienced and it made me feel more alone and empty than anything I have ever experienced in my life," Sweetin said.

Sweetin ended up in the emergency room in March 2005 with acute alcohol poisoning, heart arrhythmia and hypothermia because of the combination of drugs and alcohol. It was after this that she decided to go to rehabilitation for six months in Malibu, California.

"I finally had to figure out who I was on my own," she said. "I am very lucky I got to come through on the other side."

Sweetin said she has made some really good friends during rehab, but she also saw four friends die because of their addictions.

Hannah Kultgen, a College of Communication sophomore, said it was surprising to hear that Sweetin lost friends to drugs and alcohol because most people assume that they always survive after going through rehab.

In the end, Sweetin said she realized her life is very full today, with both good and bad things that she can handle.

"I don't have to feel flat-lined anymore," she said. "If I'm not happy with the way my life is going, I can change it."