Why was I so lonely in my final years of school?

In eighth grade, I used to have many friends, and I considered myself to have healthy social life. I was wished on my birthday. Then, almost overnight, I feel like all my friends started to ignore me- just like I was invisible. Anything I said, they ignored, and they stopped acknowledging my existence. I went on like this for three more excruciating years. I didn't eat lunch with anyone.

Now I am in university, and I still don't have a solid group of friends, but I have made a handful of trustworthy buddies. And I feel confident that if I just tried a little more, I would be able to be part of a friend group, so I am not depressed. I was super depressed in school. Why was this? As I sit here alone in my room, I can't seem to figure out why I was like I was in school, and what changed.

I'm sorry to hear this, though the first part in making sense of this situation is that you were young at the time and so was everyone else. When you're in school your friendship groups and the people you talk to are going to change a lot - it's not really personal, but everyone is in the process of figuring yourself out in that awkward phase - you need to realise that other people are doing that also. Due to this people are naturally going to gravitate towards those who are similar to them or share the same 'likeness'. It feels that your situation turned out to be like this, though with the nature of your situation it sound like you were surrounded by some petty people. Perhaps the fact that you weren't as social after the situation with your friends could have had an effect on the remaining years in school.

whilst you're in uni you are still capable of making new friends and forming stronger bonds with others through uni events, societies/ clubs and even things like sitting with new people in class - I'm glad to hear you have a handful of good friends and truthfully that's a lot better than having a large group of people you don't connect with. It is normal to have regrets and reflection back on your school days, everyone does, thinking stuff like: why wasn't I more this? Why didn't I do that? Why didn't I try harder? Honestly it's all in the past now and you have grown since then - going to uni and making such good friends, you are doing better than a lot of people as you have somewhat found your purpose and a goal - at the end of it all, your younger self did a really good job of taking the path that led you to where you are now - you should be proud of your journey and the growth you have experienced. Good luck with things 🙂