BY VINAYA SAKSENA

EAST PROVIDENCE — The top three students in East Providence High School's graduating class have divergent interests, but a few important things in common: They all profess a love for the school from which they are about to receive diplomas, and while they are ready to move on, they won't forget the school or the people who made it special any time soon.

John Caruolo, Laura Costa and Anne Monagle have been named the valedictorian, salutatorian and avedictorian, respectively, of East Providence High School's Class of 2009. The students said that while they had been aiming high academically, being named the top three students came as a pleasant surprise, with Costa and Monagle noting that the news was a welcome payoff for years of hard work.
“It was a good feeling,” Costa agreed. “I knew I was going to be up there, but I never quite thought I was going to be (number one).”
In the fall, Monagle will be attending Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she plans on studying computer science. And while she is not certain exactly what computer-related career path she might take, she said she was first bitten by the technology bug in the summer of 2005, when she participated in the Artemus Program, a program aimed at getting girls entering high school interested in technology-related career fields. Monagle recalled taking a particular liking to the PhotoShop photo editing program.
“I went for a month and I just loved it,” Monagle said. “They expose you to lots of interesting things. I learned PhotoShop, I learned HTML. I learned programming and a little bit of robotics.”
Caruolo and Costa, meanwhile, will both be attending Brown University in Providence. Both said they had ideas of what they might want to study, but were not dead set on any particular field just yet.
“I'm not really sure what I'm going to study,” Costa said. “I'm looking at engineering.”
“I might look into law,” Caruolo said. “But I figure I'll go (to school) and try to find myself.”
The students expressed mixed feelings about leaving East Providence High School. Like many graduating seniors, they appeared to view it as a sad but inevitable separation from familiar surroundings, coupled with unfamiliar but promising opportunities. While they look forward to the future, they said, they will certainly miss the school and those who helped them along during their four years there.
“Oh, definitely,” Costa said. “I have a lot of good memories. The teachers and everyone have been really great. But it's not too bad. I'm ready.”
“I am going to miss it,” Monagle agreed. “I just love everyone here. It's going to be hard for me to say goodbye to everyone here. But I think we'll come back for summer vacation.”
It was not just the familiar surroundings and people that the students said they would miss, however. Caruolo, who had been active on the school's varsity football, basketball and volleyball teams, said that his experiences with those teams would be particularly missed.
“And I'm all about being a Townie,” Caruolo said. “I'll never get to wear the Townie jersey again. That's what I'll probably miss the most.”