Haha small world, I actually go to the same school as you! (Currently a freshman too!) So gonna try and make this response more geared towards being a UMass A. student. I’ll tell you right now, going to a school this size has some downsides, and one of them is making/maintaining friendships. If your friends at home are going to smaller schools, it’s no wonder they’re having an easier time establishing a group of friends, because they literally see them all the time (and most likely will have classes with them too). Considering the size of this school, it’s hard to meet up with people when they’re at least a 30 min. walk away from where you live. I’ve personally already lost contact with some friends that I’ve made during the first week of school, and tbh, I don’t really talk to that many people on my floor either. Where most of my friends have come from are either my classes, the clubs that I’ve joined, or new friends of friends that I already knew before I came here.
I agree with you about the party atmosphere here, and like you, I will go to parties occasionally but I tend to stay sober the entire night. I don’t want to wake up to a raging hangover the next day especially if I have class. But considering that I’m in SW, I’m completely surrounded by the whole party lifestyle, hence why I don’t talk to too many people on my floor. (Also, yeah, I know homecoming was crazy yesterday! Just wait until Halloween though…)
As for eating alone, I wouldn’t worry about that. If you’ve been to the dining halls, you’ll probably see how many people actually do eat alone. It’s just part of a normal lifestyle here for being at such a big school. (Honestly, I’ve done it more than I would like to admit to).
As for a good starting point, maybe you could try sparking some conversations with people in your classes. Usually you’ll have a much easier time doing this in smaller lectures and discussions. Since you’re a freshman, you’re probably taking English 112, and since there are so many sections of that, each class only has like 15 people in it. You could try there. I know you might not want to hear about joining more clubs and stuff, but that’s honestly probably one of the best things you could do. People with similar interests tend to have a much easier time becoming friends.
Other than that, if you are feeling really depressed, you could go to counseling. I know they have support groups that could help you out of this slump and probably even help you make a couple of friends. A lot more people are going through a similar thing as you than you think.
Just remember this, if you do end up having a bad time this year, it won’t really matter much. At such a big school, you can basically start over again next year. Some of my senior friends have said that they don’t even talk to the people that they used to live with on the floor when they were freshmen anymore. Friendships usually take a long time to develop, so don’t get too worked up over it just yet.
P.S: If you want to ask me anything but don’t feel like posting it on this public thread, feel free to PM me.