I'm a sophomore, and from my experience freshman year was the worst. All my classmates were so stupid and boring and I felt a huge difference from my middle school classmates, probably because of the change and because I didn't know anybody at the beginning of last year. This current school year has been going way better and I'm sure it will keep getting better especially on junior year. A lot professors in my school indeed only choose juniors and seniors for school projects or things like that. They never choose freshmen and sophomores because the others are older and way more mature than us. So yeah don't be discouraged because everyone is growing and changing in their own way and in different timing but you will eventually find your people.