A lot of doors have opened for me since I started school. I've met people who shaped who I am today, and I've been offered opportunities I didn't know existed. But I didn't always feel this way.
When I first started university, I absolutely hated it. I felt so stagnant. I didn't talk to anyone in class, because it seemed everyone had already made friends. I didn't join any clubs after the first quarter, because I had decided it was too late.
Why wasn't I getting the college experience I was promised? I just wasn't putting myself out there. I know this sounds obvious, but I couldn't expect those experiences when I was doing nothing to create them.
Then I started studying in the library instead of my room. One day, a girl came up to me. I rarely spoke to strangers, so it felt like a miracle. We were in the same class, and she had spotted the clunky calculator the course required. What a coincidence.
As I got out more, these coincidences kept happening. I met people who shared my interests, and soon they seemed to be everywhere. I joined organizations I had never heard of and would never have considered. They have become some of the best parts of my time here.
What I was really doing was increasing my surface area for luck. The more time I spent outside my dorm room, the more likely I was to meet new friends, try new things, and have more fun. A line I love says, "You can't force plants to grow. You can only engineer the conditions in which they're likely to flourish, and trust that the results will come."
If you need a place to start, the best advice I can give is to talk to people. Whether you're at the laundromat or in a lecture, you can learn something from almost everyone. It may help, or it may not, but there is still a lot to gain. In time, you'll meet people who share your interests, or someone who helps you find a new one. Open yourself to these experiences. The more seeds you plant, the fuller your garden becomes.