Jenn Tran Survived Heartbreak on TV. Now She's Planning Her Future with or Without Sasha Farber: 'One Day at a Time' (Exclusive)

It's been a life-changing year for Jenn Tran. 

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the reality star, 27, opened up about what her future looks like after her televised breakup on The Bachelorette, taking on Dancing with the Stars and sparking romance rumors with her partner Sasha Farber.

As speculation that the two are officially dating grows stronger, Tran says she has learned to tune out the noise.

"I definitely saw that, and I mean, the news is going to say what the news is going to say, and people are going to say what they want to say, but if it's not coming out of my mouth or Sasha's mouth, then I would say it's not out there yet,” she insists. “So I would say, don't believe everything you hear. I'm a very private person and trying to figure out how to live a very public life. All of this is still very new to me, and really, I'm just having fun with it all.”

Acknowledging that she went on a reality show that documents her dating life, Tran says she understands why fans would be curious about her relationship status. Still, she says she and Farber, 40, are careful about how much they put out for the world to see.

“We talk every day, so we're definitely on the same page about a lot of different things,” she notes. “We're just taking life one day at a time.”

Speaking about being a public figure, she adds: “You do have to live your life a little bit differently and watch what comes out of your mouth and think about the repercussions of things. You just have to be smart about things. So, it definitely is something that I have to be conscious of, because once you say something, you can’t really take it back.”

When asked whether she would publicly confirm her relationship with Farber if they do make things official one day, Tran says she isn’t sure. 

“I don't know. It's so funny because I think people online are like, ‘Oh my God, Jenn's a mastermind like Taylor Swift. She has a whole plan, and she liked this comment so it must mean this, or she said this word,’” she jokes. “I'm like, ‘Guys, I'm really not that cool.’ I am just living my life one day at a time on social media, and just posting what I post and just taking it all in one day at a time.”

“For me, I think just being on The Bachelorette, just having my dating life so exposed, was honestly not the best thing for me,” she continues. “It was hard to deal with all the critics — it's hard to have people have a say in your relationships — and it's not something that I want to subject myself to anytime soon.”

Tran took the spotlight as the season 21 Bachelorette, where fans watched her get engaged to Devin Strader. When cameras went down, thing began to fall apart and the two split, leading to an emotional confrontation at the After the Final Rose special.

Just hours later, she was offered a slot on DWTS. “I don't even know what I would've done if I didn't get to have the best two months of my life on Dancing With the Stars after The Bachelorette,” she admits. “It was such a low low for me in that moment, and then to go from such a low, low to a really high high — literally something that I've always dreamed of doing was be on Dancing with the Stars before I was ever even thrown into The Bachelor world.”

“I really think it came at the most divine time ever,” she gushes. “And it definitely healed me. Dancing in itself healed me, being on the show itself just healed me, and I feel like it propelled me to get into a better mental state and to be able to process everything that had happened.”

Although Tran says she can’t promise to share all the intimate parts of her life, she will continue posting on social media. Her fans, she says, have also been an important part of her healing journey.

“I get to share so much of my life, and I get to inspire so many young people, and I get to also feel validated in my own feelings a lot of the times too,” Tran says. “A lot of my fans on Instagram and TikTok and whatnot are making me feel less alone as well.”

She reflects: “I really think that post-Bachelorette, people really rallied behind me, and I felt almost just one big hug from the community in general and everyone just wanting to see me happy. I think people were just constantly rooting for my happiness, which is something I'm so grateful to be able to say. I feel like that hasn't always been said for me in the past year, so it's been really nice and overwhelming to have so much positive support.”

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In March, Tran plans to go back to school to become a physician’s assistant. With just one year left, she says she already has an idea of how she hopes to use her degree.

“I've always wanted to start my own skincare brand, and I think with being in PA school and wanting to finish that, and going into dermatology, it could be really fun to mix the two worlds together,” she teases.

“It's definitely really intimidating, and I have a lot of work before going back to school, just refresher courses and things like that to get back to the level that I was at,” she says. “Because it's a master's program, it's not easy. But I am going back, and it's just going to take time and a lot of hard work, but it's something that I'm so passionate about. I've been wanting to study medicine my whole life, and it's just something that feels like I would regret if I didn't finish.”