BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again.
Nicole Pasquarelli and Ruth Nazoliny, whose high school classmates graduated three years ago, will finally receive their diplomas Friday after scoring high enough on their 11th attempt at the Massachusetts graduation exit exam.
Education Department spokeswoman Heidi Perlman said the women are the only two people the state knows of who passed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exam after 10 retries.
"I can't emphasize strongly enough how much we applaud these girls," Perlman said. "These girls have been personally committed to their education and they've believed in themselves."
Nazoliny, who graduates from Jeremiah Burke High School in Boston, declined an interview request.
Pasquarelli, 21, got past the English portion of the exam on the first try, but the algebra and geometry on the math section stumped her. "I'm awful at math," said Pasquarelli, who studied marketing in high school.
Graduation day in 2003 came and went for Pasquarelli, and she eventually become manager of a pizza restaurant. But she said her struggles did not embarrass or discourage her. After a couple of retests, she figured she had invested too much time to give up.
Pasquarelli has no plans to change jobs or attend college. School officials have asked her to speak at the North Shore Technical High graduation in Middleton. She said she will offer a simple reason to keep on trying amid failure: "To prove to yourself you can do it."