Born to Norwegian parents, Dagmar and her older brother Anton are first generation Americans who grew up in LA. Their parents were true believers in the 'American Dream' and pushed their kids to do well academically. While Dagmar rebelled from all things Norwegian (and started calling herself Heidi), she too fell into the belief that if you just studied/worked hard, then anything was possible. In school, she was in every academic club and she graduated top of her class with honors. Not incredibly social, Heidi was very close to her brother and a bit of a tom-boy, tough and ready to fight--especially for Anton who was always getting picked on. Nevertheless, the older she got, the more frustrated she became with Anton's seeming disinterest in anything other than boxing. She was sure that he was ruining his life, throwing away all the academic opportunities that he truly needed to be successful in America.

When Anton left for the East Coast to pursue a career in boxing, she felt like he was abandoning his family--especially their father who was sick from stress-related causes. Heidi, in true American Dream fashion, went to Stanford, graduating with double majors in philosophy and information sciences. While in college, she discovered her ability of mediumship and eagerly delved into the wealth of research surrounding psychics and the supernatural. While at school, she was recruited into the APA, which she initially embraced wholeheartedly with naive optimism. After graduation, though, Heidi became more and more disillusioned with the American Dream--the entire philosophy on which she'd based her life. Entering the real world of adulthood, she soon understood that the world didn't give a shit about how hard you worked or how smart you were. People who slacked off in high school and college easily got high paying jobs, while those who went above and beyond struggled to get into the field of their choice. When Heidi heard the news that her brother--now an international boxing star--had been taking steroids, it was the last straw. She has become disillusioned and caustic, having learned firsthand that the American Dream is a crock of shit.

Incredibly well-schooled, Heidi is easily frustrated by the idiocy of everyone around her and the unfairness of life. She no longer sees any point to working hard and has little desire to waste any more of her life in academic research that means nothing in the end. She prefers to focus on her hobbies, like playing the drums, high-risk sports (sky diving, drag-racing, etc), and going out to bars. Despite her two Stanford degrees, Heidi has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She reluctantly moved to Louisiana for her APA job, hoping that a change in culture would brighten her view of the world. But the slow pace and uneducated vernacular of the south only drove her deeper into disillusionment. Though she cares little for her job and thinks the APA's entire mission is mostly a waste of time, Heidi does like the raise in her income and the ability to use her gift.