I had told you once a while ago, but imagine you meet someone with your same attitude. Looking for a friend, a deep friend, a daily texting friend, going to events friend, checking in friend, who likes most of the same stuff you do - you two could never actually become friends because you’ll both assume the other doesnt want to hang out and won’t text each other first! It is scary, there is a lot of vulnerability, you might have had bad history with it, but you do have to initiate conversations sometimes. Passivity will not get what you seem to want, which does suck - I wanna empathize I understand the fear.

Also, youre older in college right? Gen Z has a lot of anxiety - at least what I’ve noticed. They have issues reaching out and are often lonely too. I guess you must feel quite strange sometimes among younger people. There probably is a group for >25 year old at college, maybe not that explicit. When I went back for my nursing degree, I definitely had an easier time connecting with other people in their 30s or late 20s. I hope you can find some people you can vibe with and trust and feel connected too.