A farmers market and The Case of the Pinched Book

This morning, I went grocery shopping at a Farmers Market.  The nearest market (on Saturdays at least) is 20 minutes away, which is an average distance by Texas standards, but it's quite far considering that my  house is within a 5 min driving radius from 3 major grocery stores.  Six booths were set-up selling a variety of things: bread, veggies, eggs, lamb meat, fish, shrimp, goat cheese, goat-milk ice cream, organic soaps, and flowers.  Everyone was very friendly and happy to talk about their farm and how they operate.  The sponsoring organization, Hill Country Farmers  Market Association, even hired a guitarist to play mellow country songs to entertain the shoppers and sellers alike!   Very quaint...  Today, I bought red onions, yellow squash, red potatoes, fish, shrimp, and a loaf of honey wheat bread.  The bread was amazing toasted with peanut butter!  Can't wait to try everything else!

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A  few days ago, I received a textbook in the mail that I had ordered online.  When I opened the package, I noticed a Dewey decimal sticker on the front cover.  Then, I looked on the back and noticed a bar code with small print lining the bottom, "Georgetown College Library".  I thought, "Surely, this can't be a current library book," but thought I should do some investigating.  As I scrolled through the college's online library catalog, I found this book... the very book that I was holding had been overdue since May of this year.  Someone sold me a stolen library book!  Just to make sure, I called the library and the director confirmed my suspicions.  I immediately email the company (Alibris.com) and a representative from Customer Service sent me an email stating, "I can assure you that the book you received was not stolen from a library."  Really? Are you serious?!  So I asked the librarian to write a letter stating that the book was in fact stolen...

Craziness. 

Graduate School!

Class List:
Cancer Biology I
Cancer Biochemistry Seminar
Molecular Biology Seminar
DNA Lab Techniques 
plus a Lab Internship working with cancer research


Essentially, my life will soon be inundated with all sorts of cancer biology knowledge!  I have been dreaming about this opportunity for years and now my dream is finally being fulfilled, but rather unexpectedly.  See, in the beginning of the year, my plan was to enter the University of Texas Health Science Center (a medical school) as a Master's student, take oodles of cancer courses and learn how research is being actively translated into clinical treatments.  After interviewing with a researcher at the university, I was informed that their master's program only accepted 3 to 5 students (about 5% of the applicant pool).  Statistically speaking, my chances of getting accepted were very low, so I begrudgingly applied to the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).  I didn't think UTSA had much cancer research nor offered cancer courses, so I was pretty bummed to say the least when I did not get into the Health Science Center.  Nevertheless, I was optimistic that God was leading the way.


Now that I am studying at UTSA, I can see that God was directing me toward my goals (and hopefully His) all along.  Not only am I taking two cancer courses, but I am also working in a laboratory that researches cancer, specifically TGFb1 signaling in human osteosarcoma cells (how cool is that?!).  UTSA also offers a traditional campus life that the medical school doesn't offer - a Recreation Center, hundreds of student organizations, and a beautiful campus!  There is a definite sense of community here - in my lab, between the bio Master's students, and throughout the university.  Turns out, this university is exactly what I was looking for...without knowing it.


picture above is osteosarcoma cell from micro.magnet.fsu.edu