For Sylynn Garza, an impromptu job interview more than three decades ago led to a lifelong career. Ms. Garza, who was about to graduate from the Medical Technology Program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, had gone to Houston on a vacation with her family.

“We were just driving through Dallas on the way home,” she says. “Dad had the Dallas newspaper, looked at the want ads and saw an opening for a Med Tech at St. Paul Hospital. ‘Hey, let’s go interview,’ he said.”

Ms. Garza changed her clothes while they were driving, her dad parked the motor home in front of the hospital, and she went inside and nailed the interview.

Today, she works in the chemistry group at UT Southwestern, conducting tests for biomarkers such as antinuclear antibodies, creatinine, potassium, troponin-T, and thyroid-stimulating hormone. The main reason she has stuck with her hospital lab job for so long – at first with the former St. Paul University Hospital and now at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital – is because of the camaraderie with co-workers. “They are all knowledgeable, they are all caring, and we all know a lot about each other. We are different ages and come from different backgrounds, but we are a compatible group,” she says.

Despite the closeness of her work group, some colleagues might be surprised to learn that Ms. Garza grew up on a horse farm in Wagoner, Oklahoma. Her father raced thoroughbreds and the family would travel widely – to places like Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arkansas – to watch the horses race. "It was a fun way to grow up," she says.

For future travels, however, Ms. Garza has a more exotic destination in mind. Since she learned through Ancestry.com that she has a Scottish heritage, she longs to visit the charming castle city of Edinburgh and to see the beautiful Highlands.

At home here in Texas, Ms. Garza leads an active life. She runs and bicycles with Joe, her husband of 29 years. The couple lives in Carrollton with their two adult daughters, Stephanie and Amy.