Gardner News GARDNER — A Mount Wachusett Community College art student is being recognized for her persistence and determination during a scholastic year made even more challenging by the COVID-19 pandemic. After feeling a bit aimless by the time she reached her mid-20s, Bethany Chase of Worcester decided to make a change in her life and enroll in college. Because she had always been a doodler and a drawer from a young age, she decided that when it came to a degree, she would pursue a subject that she at least knew she would enjoy. “I nervously enrolled (at the Mount), with the stipulation to myself that if I was going back to school it would be for something I have enjoyed and has comforted me since my earliest childhood memories,” said Chase, who had previously received a degree from a cosmetology school. “I decided to choose (art) as my major, figuring that most entry-level office jobs just wanted to see a degree, regardless of major. What I didn’t expect was how deeply I would fall in love with art and design, how naturally it came to me, or how I would excel at it.”