I’m 19, in my first year of university, and after 5 months I still have zero friends. Is this normal and how do people actually start social connections?

Hi everyone. I’m 19 years old and I moved to Budapest this year for university. I want to share my situation and ask for some advice because I feel a bit stuck.

Since the first day of university, I wanted to meet new people and make friends. The problem is that I have almost never started conversations with strangers in my life. I’m actually talkative once a conversation starts, but starting it myself is very difficult for me. I always feel like I might disturb people.

At the beginning of the semester I tried to just let things happen naturally. I thought friendships would form over time without forcing anything. But now it has been about five months and I still don’t really have friends here.

Sometimes during lectures we have to discuss topics with the person next to us. When that happens I can talk normally and sometimes the conversations are interesting. But when the lecture ends, the interaction ends too. I usually just say something like “Nice meeting you, have a good day” and then we both leave.

I also attend basketball classes at the university. There are around 17 people in total, mostly male. But it’s similar there. We play, the class ends, everyone goes to the locker room and leaves. Many times I don’t say anything at all during the whole class.

The last time I really had friends was about three years ago in high school. After graduation we all went in different directions and I also moved to another country.

Another thing is that I’ve never had a girlfriend before. I would honestly like to experience a romantic relationship at some point. But the idea of approaching someone I’ve never spoken to before feels very intimidating to me.

I also have some insecurities about my appearance (acne and a gap between my front teeth). I’m planning to fix the teeth situation this summer and I’m currently using treatments for acne. But I also realize these might just be excuses, because even if those disappeared tomorrow I might still struggle with starting conversations.

My main problem is this:I feel like I’m capable of having good conversations, but I’m very bad at initiating them. Because of that, nothing really starts.

And I’m also worried that if I ever do get a chance to go on a first date, I might mess it up simply because I have zero experience.

So I guess my questions are:

Is it normal to have zero friends after several months at university?

How do people actually turn small classroom interactions into real friendships?

For someone who is bad at initiating conversations, what is the most realistic way to meet people or potentially date?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who experienced something similar.