Brett Anderson first entered college in 1997, the year many of her current classmates were born. After a semester, she dropped out so she could tour the world and record music with the Donnas, a rock-and-roll band she started with her friends when she was 13.
By 2009, the band had slowed down. Anderson moved into a house with six strangers, found her first “regular” job vetting music for the film and television industry, and began to struggle with drinking and anxiety. But a few years later, she turned a corner: A memoir-writing class at Los Angeles City College ignited her academic interests, and before she knew it she was enrolling in courses in English, philosophy and the history of documentary film. In 2016, Anderson graduated as valedictorian of her class and — to her own surprise — was accepted to Stanford as a transfer student.
Now in her final year, the singer is exploring her interests in anxiety, depression and aging as a research assistant in psychology and as a teaching fellow for Psychology 1. Anderson talked to Stanford about overcoming setbacks, discovering Aristotle and finding her passion — again.
“The band felt like a calling. That felt like I had a purpose in life. It was for rock and roll. It was about women in music. It was about women in areas they don’t usually take part in.
“The regularity of [my first] job made me realize I need to be sober—that drinking wasn’t a sustainable way to live. And when I stopped drinking, I had so much more time. And that’s when I decided to go back to school.
“I had completely written Stanford off. There was no way I was going to be able to afford it — I was struggling to pay off my rent. I was almost evicted during my last quarter of [Los Angeles City College]. During my first date with my fiancé, I opened the door and there was an eviction notice.
“I’m not like, ‘What’s my calling?’ I know what my area of interest is, but coming to Stanford, the search for options on how to pursue that has opened up.
“Since I’ve been through sobriety and that process, I feel like I have something to offer in that area. I remember in the beginning that I didn’t want advice from someone who hadn’t been through it.
“I was complaining to someone that I don’t want to be 40 years old and get a BA. And they said, ‘You’re either going to be 40 with a BA or 40 without one.’ If you look at it that way, it’s totally motivating. You might as well be working for something, because what’s the alternative?”
Inyoung Choi, ’20, is a former editorial intern for Stanford.
