I am also shy, socially awkward, and have social anxiety! I feel the same way as I had a really nice group of close friends in highschool.
I’m a freshman now, but I honestly feel as if friendships in college don’t really matter. Everyone is so busy and has different schedules, different majors, and everything changes after the semester is over and a new one starts.
However, I have made a few, I guess you could say, “friends”, in my classes. If you regularly sit next to the same people or person in class, maybe say hi everytime they come to class and sit down. Also, if you are a female (maybe this works with guys? I don’t know…) I usually can start a conversation up with a compliment about the other person’s clothes or whatever. It’s how I became friends with a girl in my class, and she then introduced me to her other friends and invited me to sit with them.
Other than that, whenever I heard people talking about something that interests me, I would always force myself to add to the conversation. Common interests are great for making friends!
Good luck and remember that friends aren’t everything in college! 