Andrea Armijos Martinez
I was born in the city of Loja, Ecuador, on February 27, 1987. Now, I live in Atlanta, Georgia, with my parents, Fabian Armijos Alvarado and Viviana Martinez. I have my own business with properties on Airbnb.
I have always been an independent girl and am always trying to flourish without the help of anyone, despite my health problems and the impediments I had as a child. I want, above all, to demonstrate that one does not need anyone, and someone who wants to get ahead can do it. My life has always been fight after fight. I had a lot of problems at birth, but with the help of my mother, I was able to get ahead.
Above all, I have shown perseverance. My childhood and adolescence were not easy because of all the health problems. I first walked at three years old. I never rode a bicycle because I did not see the need. My brother, who was two years younger than me, was the one who encouraged me to get ahead. He was my support for all my childhood until his death. It was devastating for my parents. I had to become the mother of my mom so she could get through this tragedy. This happened in November of 2000, and after we came to the US.
I suffered a lot of discrimination at school. It was very difficult to learn a new language with the great pain that was the loss of my brother.
Time passed, and with a lot of effort, I got ahead. I was able to graduate from high school. Many did not believe in my study potential, but with the help of some teachers and an excellent friend, I graduated with a volunteer medal. After I graduated, due to many irregularities in my school and lost documents, I could not enter university at that time. I began volunteering for the American Cancer Association and won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2008. It was a great pride for me, because among so many older volunteers, I won for my collaboration with the association. I continued to volunteer with hospitals, embassies, and health fairs. I found my first jobs with companies like Univision and local radio stations.
After all the struggle with my school, I was finally able to enter university. It was a long way, but I managed to reach the goal. More things happened in that time, and I chose to study to become a medical and legal interpreter.
I got an opportunity to begin my own business with properties on the Airbnb, and was able to work from anywhere in the world. This is something I like, and above all, I can do other things apart from this. There is nothing better than being my own boss.
Well, I just completed two years with the business, and it has been growing more every day. It is something I like to do and have time to write stories about my life for children. I want to teach them that bullying should not be done to any child because they do not know what is happening in that child’s life.
I always wanted to have a job that I could handle and be independent.
This first children’s story happened to me. It is about my childhood experience with bullying and how I got over it. This idea came true with the support of a great teacher who believed in me to get this first account of my authorship. This story is made by me from start to finish with the help of excellent illustrators and editors.
I am making my dream of writing my children’s story come true. It has been a long wait, but it was worth it.
Currently, I am in Ecuador due to a bad clinical diagnosis made in the US. I hope to return soon to start promoting my book. From all this, I have learned that God has always prepared great things for us. My illness gave me a great lesson. What I went through was not bad; it was just something I had to live through in order to leave a legacy for those who surround me. In my book, I the story of my illness and how life changed me. I am a miracle. I have things to do. For now, it is to take out my book and teach children that we are all the same.
After recovering from his illness, she finally published his book in three versions in English, Spanish, and bilingual, but she doesn't want his book to just be there; she wants to send the message about bullying prevention to the whole world.
In 2022 she decided to create the non-profit organization, Bright Boy Foundation to prevent bullying and let's just say, we are the world. No more bullying and teach them with love your experience, as a victim of bullying and all the obstacles you have gone through, make your dreams come true, guide them and let them know that they are not alone, we are the support of children, parents and schools to prevent bullying.
