Struggling to interact with the outside world

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Figured I'd post something in this section since it's a big issue for me.

Friendship has always been a struggle for me. I made one in Primary School whom I never heard from after I left, and one in Secondary I grew apart from when I met a couple of others there. I regret doing so heavily.

Not to jibber on about myself for too long, but these two friends I met weren't people I fit in with terribly and in retrospect they probably talked to me out of sympathy. I wasn't into football or CoD, GTA et cetera and had to really try to fit in. But I was happy for this period of time, and thought it was a good idea to go to Sixth Form with them and hopefully put a newfound social confidence to use.

It was at Sixth Form I realised my complete social ineptitude and it really began to matter to me. While my friends from Secondary made new friends and grew distant from me since I wasn't in their classes, I went the whole year barely talking to anyone. By the end of it, I was walking home for my lunch break to avoid contact with people, and had become extremely miserable at the prospect that I was completely alone and would be my whole life.

Since then I've met friends online through a common hobby, but I feel as though my past experiences have made me even less social in the real world than I once was. I couldn't bear being in the situation I was before again, so I stay largely silent at college. The only person I really talk to is my LSA. I'm currently very uncomfortable in any extended social interaction that isn't through text, and have become distant from my family.

I desperately need to get better at interacting with people, but I'm unsure how to.

Are there any groups you can try that might work on your terms? The best way to develop social skills will probably be through practice. Maybe there's a group in your area related to one of your interests, and you could join activities with them for a time length you're comfortable with (say an hour or two). That's what I did. It helps because I like the social activity, but the get together tends to be over before I'd burn out. Just have to be careful not to unload my life story and drive others away

That'd be worth looking into. I'm not sure how to initiate that happening though.

Are there any groups you can try that might work on your terms? The best way to develop social skills will probably be through practice. Maybe there's a group in your area related to one of your interests, and you could join activities with them for a time length you're comfortable with (say an hour or two). That's what I did. It helps because I like the social activity, but the get together tends to be over before I'd burn out. Just have to be careful not to unload my life story and drive others away

Try Meetup.com and see if there's anything interesting in your area.

You made friends through your special interest.

Why dwell upon the past. It's the past.

You got the present and the future now.

The past is irrelevant. School is a minefield for us "social misfits."

Have you decided upon a major at University?