Sara Collins

• Photographer and commercial postproduction house staffer
• Age: 25
• From: Edgebrook
• Lives in: West Town

“I like doing something with my day,” says Collins, who has spent the last few years in a whirlwind of work, travel, and play. In 2009, she embarked on an independent photo project to document the lives of Chicagoans and finished with 5,000 portraits. Her travels took her to Mexico, western Europe, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. And on a whim, she entered the contest for Chicago’s 2012 St. Patrick’s Day Parade queen—and won.

In the market for: A handsome, stylish, and driven guy. “He has to be going somewhere,” she says.

Conversation starter: German music, which she sang as a child.