I had a girlfriend at the end of high school. Then was diagnosed with an illness, to which I ended up staying at home freshman year instead of joining and living in a dorm. She left after a few months of being diagnosed. After that I only had a roommate or I lived at home throughout college.
I feel like I lost out on the social skills gained, as well as the network and friends you're supposed to develop during those first years. I see videos and other people being really good friends with those people they met in the dorms. Not to mention situations that happen in Co-ed dorms or that whole scene. Now I'm old and just feel like that was a crucial part in social development, at least in the west, that reverberates as a big loss, and things for me would be different if I had the opportunity to live that way and meet people in that setting.
Now, people are not interested in getting to know new people, they have their setup and there's very little admission into these completed social groups.
How can I try to make up for this, or am I overexaggerating the importance? Can't really join that kind of situation 10 years later. Or what skills/experiences have I missed out on that can be made up for at any age? How to learn those?