Looking for advice

[u/spicyfreshmilk]

I’ve been feeling really stuck lately and feel like I have nobody to talk to about it. Hoping to get some opinions from people here who may have been in a similar position.

I graduated with a BA in Spanish and Communication and Media Studies in 2025, high distinction. I’ve always been really good at school and never had to try too hard to succeed. I’ve also never had a “dream job” or known what I wanted to do as a career, and maybe still don’t. I was very convinced that after my bachelor’s I’d be done with school forever, but now I’m not so sure.

I was very involved as a student. It was a small school, so I was on leadership for like 5 different clubs, taught ESL classes in the community, completed a related internship (twice), and was an RA for three years. I also applied for the Fulbright and got to the semi-finalist stage. The college is in a small town, so community is a big deal, both on and off campus. I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet after graduating, so that’s why I decided to stay. I’m from a more suburban area a few hours away.

After graduating I got a job at my alma mater and have been working there since. I’ve liked it well enough, but it’s not the best job and is pretty much the definition of “entry level”. If I wanted to move up into something in student affairs or administration or something like that, I’d most likely need a master’s, so I’ve been looking into doing an online program (the college I’m at is undergrad only). I’ve been a bit conflicted on that though, since it seems a lot of the value of grad school comes from the experiential learning, graduate assistantships, etc. I didn’t qualify for TRIO or McNair or anything and wouldn’t have been interested as an undergrad even if I had, so I don’t know much about what grad school is like, the application process, best programs and practices, etc. I realize I can reach out to my professors (especially since I got to know them very well on our small campus) but I feel like it would turn into more of a therapy session than anything and I don’t want to burden them with that.

Part of thinking it would turn into a “therapy session” comes from the fact that I started dating my boyfriend at the end of my senior year, and he works in agriculture, so it’s a bit more difficult for me to move to someplace with the opportunities I’m looking for since I don’t want to leave him behind. I want to go and see more of the world, maybe try going for the Fulbright again, but I don’t want to lose him. I’ve never had luck in love, and he’s my first boyfriend, first everything. It feels much too early to settle down, though.

In terms of graduate programs I’ve been considering a master’s of education (general), master’s of high ed/student affairs, Spanish, or a PhD in one of those areas, but maybe starting with a master’s would be best. I’m also vacillating between going into higher ed admin or perhaps becoming a professor one day, but everything feels very up in the air without someone to discuss it with. My school is part of a larger system, so I’d be able to get a tuition discount if I continued my education with them while working my job, but my current position involves a lot of travel and odd hours that would make that difficult.

I wasn’t quite sure where to put this part, but honestly, I also just miss being a STUDENT. I miss being in a class, having deep discussions, analyzing material, and of course the social aspect. I also feel I may partly be just romanticizing being a student, because when I was one I was very burnt out and ready to have a job, but again, I’ve always enjoyed school and learning.

Am I missing out on a lot by pursuing an online program? How do people go into grad school after having a gap between that and their bachelor’s? I know it may seem a bit ridiculous that I’m thinking of 1.5 years as a “gap,” but it already feels like I have roots I don’t want to tear up. Any advice would be very helpful.