Rising Stars: Meet Magda Wojtara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Magda Wojtara. 

Hi Magda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Magda Wojtara and I am a recent graduate from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with my bachelor’s degree in Honors Neuroscience and minors in Astronomy and Science, Technology, and Society. I am also starting my master’s degree at the University of Michigan Medical School in Human Genetics. I plan to apply to medical school this upcoming cycle. I started my blog @journeythedestination back in May 2019 which became my creative outlet. I post photos I have taken on trips and travels while also posting photos of some of the amazing food I try. I try to uplift small businesses in particular and each of my captions is a brief history into the buildings and places I take a photograph of. I alternate between using my iPhone and my Nikon depending on the day. Primarily, I enjoy photographing architecture and nature. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I started my account with low expectations and the idea that this would be a way for me to de-stress rather than a source of stress. As such, I try not to focus too long on any challenges. I have had the great pleasure of working with many small businesses to try their food, provide menu suggestions and advertise their grand openings. However, I have also been ghosted a fair amount of times too- that’s just the way that it goes in this field. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently, I am serving in AmeriCorps as a College Adviser at Pontiac High School and International Technology Academy. Though education is not my primary career focus, I think that a strong educational foundation is imperative to future success. Education is beautiful in that you can find its utility in every single field including medicine. I appreciate that I am able to help guide my students to a fulfilling career and to provide them with the support to not go into debt to do so. It’s a tough, but very rewarding job that I learned about through an email from Kelly Maxwell, LSA’s Assistant Dean and faculty advisor to our student government (which I was heavily involved in during undergrad). 

As an FGLI student, I faced a lot of barriers when it came to navigating higher education and the hidden curriculum of post-secondary education and professional careers. That led me to establish my own nonprofit focused on “Making Common Sense More Common.” I established General Intelligences during the COVID pandemic and we were able to harness the growing need and necessity for online forms of career and professional education. To date, we have helped more than 30,000 students, advocated for educational policy reforms, and become a fiscally sponsored 501(c)(3). 

During this gap year, I had the fortunate opportunity to perform research on Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Typologies and Impacts since my team win our bid to the US Department of State. Over the course of about 7 months, we have elucidated TFGBV’s typologies and impacts across 5 different regions over the past 5 years. We presented our findings to USAID and to the US Department of State’s team and also completed a 40-page report detailing our findings. Ultimately. we provided the US Department of State’s -Secretary Office of Global Women’s Issues with policy recommendations, best practices and additional information to be incorporated in the launch of the U.S Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. 

I also volunteer as part of the Education and Planning Committee for Detroit VITALS which is a telemedicine free-clinic serving Wayne. Oakland and Washtenaw counties. More than 240,000 individuals in Detroit are uninsured and we plan to serve northwest and southwest Detroit which are HPSA high-need areas for primary care. As a part of the education committee, I work to develop and design educational modules and workflows to ensure those involved in the clinic understand how it functions, can recognize symptoms of common medical conditions and can transcribe patient history accurately during patient appointments. I created a business plan for how to efficiently deliver equipment to patients’ homes without violating privacy and by reducing overhead costs. I also wrote raining modules for the clinic volunteers including a 29-page manual on taking a patient history, how to use our EHR platform-Practice Fusion and a module on cultural competency and LGBTQ+ Health. 

What does success mean to you?
Through my experiences, different people have different definitions of success. For my business and professional pursuits, success means achieving our KPIs and having quantifiable impact. For my personal pursuits, success means that I have achieved what I planned to achieve regardless of whether or not it took longer than expected. My opinion is that success is an ever-moving goalpost. I think true success is being content with where you are currently and what you have previously achieved, but to be ambitious enough to always want to accomplish more. 

Pricing:

• $0 promotional posts for small businesses (comped food required)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/journeythedestination
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magda-wojtara/
• Other: generalintelligences.org