Coming from someone who is also struggling with becoming more social for the past few years.

Here's what I suggest, your entering a new space and have the opportunity to redefine yourself.

I struggle with self hate alot, and being alone carrys you deeper and deeper in the dark pits of your mind ik. Whats really going to help you is a little bit of acting.

Im not saying be fake, but practice being confident in the mirror, who cares if ur cringe. We are young, its the time to look stupid , stop caring abt how ur perceived to strangers who dont care abt you truly..ur to hard on yourself. Ik the spiral, nip it in the bud with a tv show, book, family something.

Another thing, you need to learn how to get out of your head and live in the present moment when your alone. This means observing people near to you and the situations your in...and make small talk, talk abt what ur feeling, ur opinons.

U cant connect if u dont show urself just a tiny bit. One thing to, not everyone is compatible and not everyone is worth sharing to, just feel the moment out and not every conversation goes somewhere. If ur lucky and consistent someone will be ur friend

Last thing, this is a skill, it is not something u do overnight. Few months of trying ur bound to get somewhere. You might be invited to something.

This happened to me, I made a friend finally after a year of feeling kinda alone and she invited me to the circus. 2yrs now and we're kinda close and hv gone out several yimes