Love of learning was key; 43 graduate from Academy of Math and Science.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Priyanka Dayal

WORCESTER - Typically, pulling all-nighters to slog through physics problems is not much fun. But for the 43 high school seniors who graduated from the Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science yesterday, it made them a family.

The students were selected to attend the two-year, state-funded public school on the basis of their skills and their desire to learn. That hunger for knowledge brought them together, said Sarah J. Bricault, a senior who spoke at the commencement yesterday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

"We all came here for the same reason - looking for teenagers who actually want to learn," she said. "That passion for learning united us."

Ms. Bricault called Mass. Academy "its own world" and said she always felt like she belonged with the other students there. There was no petty competition or pressure to split into cliques, she said, stresses that are all too familiar to students at many other high schools.

The academy was established in 1992 and is the only academic program of its kind in Massachusetts. The students take the same rigorous courses as WPI students.

"I commend you all for giving up the much easier curriculum you could have enjoyed at another high school," Lance E. Schachterle, WPI's associate provost, told the graduates. "We expect great things of you."

Walking across the stage at WPI's Alden Hall, the students became the first high school seniors to graduate this year in Worcester. Many of them will continue their education at technical universities, including 10 who will attend WPI.

Class President Ilda Bajraktari addressed the audience, sharing stories about her classmates' first days at Mass. Academy and how much they have learned and grown since then. The work was always difficult, she said, but she looked back fondly on working with the other students.

"We have become inseparable," she said. No matter where they go from here, she said, they will affect each other in some way.

Class of 2007

Ashby: Christopher J. Lowe (NHS).

Ayer: Luke A. Perkins (NHS).

Bolton: Caitlin A...