1. What is your name, which TSD schools did you attend, and what year did you graduate?
Heather Hach Hearne, I went to Monroe Elementary, Conrad Ball Junior High, and Loveland High School, Class of 1989
2. What have you been doing since graduation, and what is your proudest accomplishment?
I graduated from the Journalism School at the University of Colorado – Boulder in 1993. I worked for the New York Times Denver Bureau as a research assistant and also for Sports and Fitness Publishing in Boulder. I performed for years with Comedy Sports in Denver’s Wynkoop Brewery. I left Colorado for Los Angeles after a horrid (thankfully young) divorce, anxious for a fresh start, intending to try my hand at screenwriting. I won the Disney Screenwriting Fellowship in 1999, which led to writing Freaky Friday. My proudest accomplishment was serving as librettist on Legally Blonde the Musical, opening on Broadway and receiving a Tony nomination.
3. What is your best memory of school?
Getting involved with forensics (speech and debate competition) changed my life. Mr. Roulier was a great teacher, and I found my comedic voice competing in Humor, and I even got to go to State.
4. What was your biggest challenge during school?
I’m not a good math student (that’s putting it mildly!), and it was difficult to excel in writing but be profoundly terrible at math. It was hard to reconcile my brain, how I could feel gifted creatively but persistently do so awful in math class.
5. What do you know now that you wish your younger self had known?
That I’d have my whole life to be an adult and don’t worry so much about being older — it’ll happen soon enough. Enjoy that collagen and youth!
6. What advice would you give to students in school now?
I would tell students to find the people who truly make you feel like yourself and be open to being friends with lots of different people. Don’t waste your time with people who make you feel less.
7. Name one person who changed your life for the better during school and how they did it.
Again, I would credit Mr. Roulier, my Forensics teacher, who encouraged me to explore my funny side. He knew I should switch from the Lincoln Douglas debate to the Humor competition, and he was right. I found my confidence and had a blast performing and meeting like-minded weirdos.
8. If you could wave a magic wand and change something about your school years, what would it be?
I would have gotten a math tutor! Also, I wish I’d tried to become an exchange student in some exotic pocket of the world.
9. How did school prepare you for what you are doing now?
I think Loveland was a grounded, humble place to come from — I’ve never lost my roots. Decency mattered.
10. What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
My novel is going to be published next year (“I Am You”), and I hope to transition to books. I’d also like to continue being curious about the world and people, keep laughing and reading, and traveling and walking my dogs. Not necessarily in that order.