Heather Cowell

• Name: Heather Cowell

• Age: 28

• Family: Mother, Nina Cowell of Sutter

• City of residence: Yuba City

• Occupation: Works at Starbucks

• Hobbies, interests: Dance, with a bachelor's degree in theater, and working with The Acting Company.

• Where do you get your news? Appeal-Democrat and television

• What brought you to the Yuba-Sutter area? Born on Beale Air Force Base and have never moved, except for two years in Arizona with the Mesa Arts Center and its children's theater programs.

• What keeps you in the Yuba-Sutter area? Family

• What is the closest you've been to a famous person? I shook hands with Timothy Busfield while taking an acting seminar with him at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento; and I was working on a crew in Arizona setting up for singer Seal.

• If you were granted one wish, what would you wish for? Health and happiness for everyone; for myself I would wish to get into a master of fine arts program for a degree in theater so I could teach at any level — college, high school. My goal is to be a teacher.

• What actor would you like to work alongside? Robin Williams

• Tell us about a life-changing experience: When I became Miss Yuba-Sutter 1998-'99. Before that I was not confident in myself, just fading in the background. When I won, doors opened and I became this person who talked to everyone, super confident.

• What are some of your fondest memories as a kid? Carrying the signs for floats in the Bok Kai Parade for three or four years with my best friend. One year we helped picked out the dragon's skeleton and put the "skin" on it.

• If you were in charge, what would you change about the community? The way things are going in Marysville. It's a beautiful town and a historical point that needs to be resurrected.

• What was your first job as a kid? Working at the register for Carl's Jr. in Yuba City.

• What are your favorite places to go in the Yuba-Sutter area? The Acting Company and City Dance Center in Yuba City, where I teach and dance.

• Favorite book: "Memoirs of a Geisha"

• Favorite movie: "The Godfather"

• Favorite musical group: I'm very eclectic — I used to play violin when I was a kid, with classical music; listened to opera in college; now listen to everything, from Taiko Japanese drummers, African tribal music, Chinese music.

• Favorite television show: "Grey's Anatomy"

• Favorite sports team: Phoenix Suns basketball