USDC – ETH gas fees

I made the mistake of putting money into USDC thinking that I could directly purchase ERC-20 tokens/coins using it. Now I’m realizing there is not much I can do except swap for ETH but I want to avoid paying outrageous gas fees as I did not deposit a large amount of funds into USDC.

Any ideas?

I’m new to the ETH side so any info is much appreciated.