This document is a senior autobiography written by Asusena Acosta Rodriguez. It discusses her name which is unique and means white flower. It describes her room decorated in black and white with portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley on the walls. Her most treasured possession is a music box given to her by her godmother that plays when opened and reminds her of happy memories they shared. The document also recounts a funny story told by her stepfather about getting stuck on the side of the road in the heat when their car broke down while trying to go to the beach.

1. Home Sweet Home

2. “ A journey of a thousand miles beings with a single step”
Lao Tzu
Senior Autobiography
Asusena Acosta Rodriguez
English 4- Mrs. Chavez
May 23, 2012

3. Table of contents
1.Prologue……………………………………………………………………….....1
2.What’s in a Name? …………………………………………………………....... 2
3.Personal Alphabet……………………………………………………………......4
4.Room Sweet Room……………………………………………………………....6
5.Personal Symbol……………………………………………………………........8
6.Telling Tales……… ……………………………………………………………
7.Flashback…………………………………………………………………….......
8.Cheer Yourself Up! …………………………………………………………......
9.One Medium Suitcase ………………………………………………………….
10.Remembering the Child ………………………………………………………...
11.Family Influence ………………………………………………………………..
12.How to …………………………………………………………………………...
13.Advice to the Young …………………………………………………………….
14.Are You Hungry………………………………………………………………….
15.Annual Report ……………………………………………………………………

4. 1
Prolgoue
Home Sweet Home, a place where you can be safe and confortable than any other place. I would
consider home a safe place to live in and a home that you have been raised since u were born.
Throughout my life I have had some very tough times and it seems like they don’t get any
easier. Don’t get me wrong, I have had some good experiences too, but it can get pretty tough. I
try to escape my feelings and my experiences into my writing, so this title for me is pretty much all
me! Everything I write comes from my thoughts, memories, heart or something creative I make
up.
I guess it will help you get to know what I’m about, but, most importantly, it would really will help
me get to know myself.This is important to my life because, my mother would bring me back from
the hospital and she wanted to raise me in Los Angeles. I was a caring but people think as me as a
sweet little girl loves to be nice to everybody and being surrounded by other people. There would
be a time when there is a thunderstorm, my grandma that is death, would be there right next to me,
holding me, cuddle with me and tell me I love you in sign language. My grandma would see a
thunder flashing in the dark clouds, she would be waiting for the strike to hit the ground so that she
can hear once again. I love just hanging out with my friends and just having fun. I love to be
cheerful and see the positive things in life. Through out everything I have been through, I try to do
my best so I can have the best life. I live one day at a time and I do not think about the past.

5. 2
Whats in a Name?
I was born Asusena Acosta Rodriguez, Asusena was named after a beautiful white flower that
grows in Bali, Indonesia. My name hasn’t been bad at all, recently I haven’t heard anyone that
used my name before. Many people can’t pernounce it correctly because of how it was spelled or
how it sounds. This name is Arabic. My mother gave this name to me because, it was a very unqiue
name that u usually don’t hear around. And she wanted me to be an unqiue baby girl that will be
raised into a beautiful young girl that will raise happly and complete. During my school years, not
many teachers couldn’t pernounce my name correctly so now everybody would have a nickname
for me and it would be easier for them to call me a shorter name that would go with me like, sussie,
it was a pefect name that nobody would forget. My parents wanted to name me lily but they
decided to name Asusena instead because, it sounds more hispanic for our family culture. She
thought, Lily, sounds like an american name that hs been used a lot with a lot of girls.
My Grandma was very happy with the name that my mom gave it was very interesting for her
because, in mexico, wher she lives in, she doesn’t hear that name at all around her city. The only
names she hears from girls are stephanie, yesina, jessica, jasmine, veronica and mostly nacy. She
wanted to give me another nickname for me she calls me, sweetheart. Sweetheart was a good
nickname for me because, it fits my personality and how iact around people and how helpful I am
to many of my family members that come over and especially my cousins. When ever I see
someone struggling with a heavy box I try to help out no matter what. If
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6. someone is having a bad day and they need someone by there side, im always there for them
everytime. I try to keep a smile on their face just to let them know that there not alone and that im
there for them until they feel much better and more cheerful than ever. This name has been a great
experience for me through out my whole life, but I will always be called, sussie.

7. 4
Personal Alphabet
Adorable- I have been told I have a adorable voice on the phone.
Bilingual- I speak and read and also understand Spanish & English.
Caring- I care about my family and my friends.
Delightful- I am very delightful to people when they need help.
Energized- I am very energerized outside of school.
Feisty- You don’t mess with my bad side.
Grown-up- I am ready for being an adult and ready to live the real life after I graduate.
Happy- I always have a smile on my face everyday.
Insane- I have been told I act crazy when im at parties.
Jumpy- I have heard that I am jumpy when Im at amusement parks.
Kitty- I love the logo of Hello Kitty.
Lazy- I am lazy when it comes to the weeekends and after school.
Motivated- I love to go out to places and not stay home all day.
Neat- I have a clean neat room that never gets dirty.
Organzied- I am very well organized with my personal stuff.
Private- I like to be in my room just for being alone and its has privacy.

8. Quiet- I’m always quiet in class while im doing my work.
Responsible- I am very responsible with my actions.
Silly- I love being my myself around my friends and family.
Tall- I’m taller than my little sister.
Unique- My name is very unique.
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Vicious- When it comes to wrestling, I will always lose.
Weird- I act weird around my parents.
Xenophile- I like to talk to new people that I don’t know.
Young- I’m the youngest daughter that graduated highschool out of my whole family.
Zappy- I finsih my work real quick.

9. 6
Room Sweet Room
I can describe my room as a black and white movie. Everything in my room is black and white
funirture. My room is a place where you can chat with your friends, listen to music, watch tv and
sleeping in your bed. My walls are covered with portraits that are black and white such as Marilyn
Monroe and Elvis Presley. These two actors and singers were my favorite back in the days. Elvis
was the king of Rock and Marilyn Monroe was a very gorgeous model that was the first front
cover of the the Playboy Issue. There are many drawing that I put up on my wall that are in

10. frames. I been drawing for many years and I decided not to buy the character that is in the frame,
instead I draw the character better. I wanted to express my feelings by drawing and how I feel.
I have so many memories in my room like the big giant bean bag I have laying on the floor for
guest to sleep on. This big bean bag has always been useful to let my friends sleepover at my house.
We eat on it, we sleep on it, wrestle, draw on it and also relax on it. When I think of a meaningful
place, I think of my bedroom. . A place like my bedroom is where I can relax and be comfortable. I
think that is why it is important to me, because I can be myself and feel comfortable in there. I can
also just sit down and rest my body. Another reason is I can go there when I want privacy. I can
shut the door, maybe even lock it and tell everyone in my household not to disturb me. My room
holds most of my personal belongings there and they are important to me. Therefore I do not let any
and every one in bedroom because that is my place of treasures and comfort.
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As you enter my room, there isnt anything on the floor that will make you think im not an
organizee person but, I am an organize person that likes to keep everything clean and well put in
place when you can actually find it easy without any complaining. My room is always neat and
clean. Im letting everyone know when they come into my room they will know how clean I mean
and how much I having clutter around my room. Mostly boys will have clutter around there room
and have random items around there floor which tells different story each one.
The best part of my room is my wall the is air brush and that is picture of Los Angeles. This
painting is very important to me because, I was born and raised there for a very long time until I

11. was 7 years old and I had so many memories there and hope to cherish forever. A lot of cousins
lives in that city so I can always stay in contact with them everyday.

12. 8
Personal Symbol
I have a very special gift from my god mother, it’s a Music Box that plays when you open it. When
you open the box theres an angel that dances and twirls around. My God mother gave mt his lovely
gift on my birthday. This Music Box means so much to me. When I was just a baby, my god mother
always open the box and let it play music when I was crying. The music makes me feel better and
relax. She will always have it in her room just in case I come over and visit it her on the weekends
to sleep over.
As the days go by me and her would put buttons or ocean shells that we found laying on the beach.
The Music Box would be a memory box, on what me and my god mother did together in the past.
As the days go by, she told me she had cancer and I was in complete shocked. This is why she gave
me the Music Box to remember her and remembering our moments together and what we did.
However, that day when I was walking home, I get text message saying that my god mother has
cancer. I was heart broken, I didn’t know what to do. I was praying for a miracle to happen, wishin
she was okay.
The next day I got a call from the hospital. The doctor was telling me some bad news, that my god
mother couldn’t make it in time. When I see that music box playing a beautiful melody. This is
letting me know that she will always be there with me.

13. Telling Tales
My family have so many memories and telling stories when we have family time together. We talk
about the most ridiculous stories that we have encountered in the past. My stepada was telling us a
story when the whole family was in Long Beach on a weekend. This story starts on a summer hot
day. When we were packing our beach stuff like our sunscreen, umbrella, beach ball and our sun
glasses, we decided to head out first to the gas station. As we all headed to the gas station, the car
started to make noise, and it started to slow down and the car stop on the side of the road. We were
panicing because, we had the cool air on, that was a terriable day for us. We had no cold air to stay
cool from the crazy heat. I was sweating like a waterfall was running down my skin.
Everyone was suffering from the heat that was cooking us in the car. But im glad that my stepdad
pack some ice cold water that was still frozen. A few hours past, and we notice that all the icy cold
water bottles were all gone and empty. We had nothing to drink to keeps us from sweating to much.
My stepdad was getting sweating so much he decides to take off his shirt. Then, my stepbro was
doing the same thing too. I was thinking to myself, that this will be the last time I will be in the car
with a bunch of sweaty fat guys. The car started to stink really badly. This wasn’t the best summer
to stay in the car with a bunch of shirtless fat guys. As my stepdad was telling us that story to
remind us what a bad idea it was for us to not check the gas first before we left. This wouldn’t
happen if we put gas before the day we left to the beach. It was a funny day to let that happen to me
and my mom. It was funny for the guys because, they all know that we couldn’t stand smelly
sweaty guys in that kind of heat.

14. Flashback

15. 10

16. 6

17. 7

18. 8