I have to agree with most of what I've read in this thread. At least you didn't get outright discouragement. When I went to talk to my adviser at the end of my undergraduate studies her words were, "Well, your grades aren't exactly... competitive." After four years in the department, I knew what she really meant was, "You're doomed." I was doomed.
But since then I've had a chance to observe this from an outside angle. I interact a fair bit with PhDs now, and often their graduate students as well. During the application process, as much as they look at you and ask themselves, "Is this person a match with our program?" you should be examining them as well and asking, "Is their program a match for me?" More to the point, ask yourself if there are any particular faculty members you would want to work with. Is their area of expertise compatible with what you want to pursue? Is their personality a match? It's fair to ask yourself these things.
For the people at the university where you are now to say the institution you're looking at won't be able to accommodate you is naive at best. All it takes in one faculty member who really jives with you, with your area of interest, with how you work, etc. and it's a match. I'd pursue it.
Meanwhile, what you said about university being the one place where you feel like you make any sense as a person is important. Being accepted into a master's program will delay having to deal with that, but only by a few years. Regardless of whether you apply to a master's program, look into how you can make that work long-term. I worked at a university for many years in several departments, but never as a teacher. Those jobs exist. Check the staff job postings at universities that would be of interest to you, and get a feel for who they're looking for and what kinds of jobs they're hiring for. You might be surprised.
