Hi there,
I myself am an introvert, and I have social anxiety, so I especially struggled to make friends in my first year. But I took the courage to ask my fellow course mates if I would be able to hang out with them and now we're friends. I mentioned this in another blog, but before I had approached my course mates, I was worried they would think of me as a weird person or perhaps say no to me, but when they had said yes to me, I realised that it was all in my head. Furthermore, after becoming a student ambassador, I met so many wonderful student ambassadors too whom I'm also friends with. It does take courage, and it took the whole of my first year to open up. But eventually it comes to you naturally. You realise no one really knows the real you until you voice your opinion and open up to them.
I hope this helped.
Best wishes,
Coventry University Student Ambassador