29 // Biotechnology equity researcher *
From: Fairport, New York
Lives in: Wicker Park
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As a bio major at Cornell, Patrawala was on the path to med school. Not so much. In the past ten years, she’s relocated seven times, picking up degrees in business (in Melbourne) and science (through a joint program at Harvard and MIT) along the way. She landed in Chicago ten months ago.

Business school in Australia, huh? “I got into Notre Dame, UCLA, and Melbourne, and I was just like, Screw it. I’m 24, and I want to have fun. I was big into surfing, and I was trying to find a way to live in a nonconventional way.”

Explain your job. “We follow every single thing that biotech companies do: financially, medically, clinically, you name it. We write reports based on that information and how it affects the stock market. People buy and sell based on our research.”

On being a second-generation American: “It was the typical immigrant story. I had strict Indian parents, who made us do math problems from the moment we were born until the moment we left the house. But we had a lot of freedom growing up. There is that aspect where you’re balancing two cultures. You’re balancing home life and school life. You’re balancing what you know from your Indian culture versus what every other American kid does. I can’t say I thought much about it growing up. You know The Namesake? That’s pretty much the story of my life.”

On online dating: “I joined OkCupid at one point, and I realized that it’s so exhausting trying to talk to these people online with their whole methodology of flirting and dating. I just can’t do it. The whole point of dating someone is the excitement of getting to know them instead of knowing everything about them up front.”

On guys: “I love a great laugh, when you can see their teeth. I tend to like really even-keeled men who aren’t high-strung—just easygoing and living life. At this state in my life, I need someone I can shoot the shit with. All that other stuff—where you want a really great-looking guy, a really charming guy, or a type A guy who works at an investment bank and is a superstar—goes out the window. At the end of the day, I’m looking for somebody I can talk to. I like challenging conversation—someone who knows how to push your buttons just the right way. You have good banter with him, and when you wake up the next morning, you think: I still really like you.” —N.O.