Lauren Heil: Hooked on Journalism

By C. May

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — When Lauren Heil was a young girl, she wanted to grow up to be a vet. But when she was in the fifth grade, an essay she wrote on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was published in the Denver Post. The young student was inspired to be a journalist. “It was such a long time ago,” she says. “I was hooked after that.” In middle school, she was involved with broadcasting daily announcements throughout her school, and in high school she worked for the newspaper. Now she is in her sophomore year at CSU pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism.

Every morning Heil wakes up early to go for a run. She loves running, and participates in 10K races several times a year. When she gets home to the Gamma Phi Beta sorority house, she makes sure to eat a good breakfast. “I never miss it,” she says. “I love breakfast!” After breakfast, she attends classes, mostly for her broadcast journalism major and sociology minor. When she gets home, she does homework and spends time with her roommate. After a buffet-style dinner in the sorority’s kitchen, she watches TV and “every evening we all watch football together,” Heil says, describing an interesting facet of life in a sorority. “It’s fun,” she says.

Heil says her favorite holiday is Christmas. “I honestly didn’t come to fully appreciate the holiday until last year, [which was] my first year at college.” She talks about the “joy and happiness” of coming home to Westminster, Colo. from school to see her friends and family. She hadn’t previously spent a large amount of time away from her family, so family gatherings during the holidays were “something I had taken for granted throughout my life,” Heil says.