tl;dr

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

You two understand the concept of quitting smoking "cold turkey"? Difficult for most, simple for few. Jumping in with both feet would be akin to quitting smoking "cold turkey", something I can't fathom doing.

I'm talking from experience here, DO IT. it is not something you really cannot do, Allow me to elaborate:
Basically in college (us: highschool) i was socially introverted, I had only had one "girlfriend" which i don't really count as a relationship, as i was young, and didn't have a clue what i was doing. I am still a virgin at 20, so i'm in a sorta similar position to you. At college i had "friends" but rarely to never went out with them, this was partly due to the fact that i lived relatively far from school and they were in close proximity from each other, so they could plan around that. I also felt inferior as because i was introverted, i lacked social skills, not in everyday situations, but i couldn't go to a club or anything like that. It just seemed impossible.
Then i left college, and came to university. In Freshers week (notorious for drinking) I decided to go with my flatmate for a drink. I met a girl who he was friends with, she said "you coming to the SU (student union, club like place)" I replied with my usual "iunno..." and she said "well you have a ticket, so what's the problem?" I snapped, said "Fuck it!" and just plunged straight in there. No social skills, no clue what the night would bring. It was the most exilurating night of my life. I met loads of people, many i can't even remember, and i also made one or two friends, So from experience i can tell you that generally speaking it's not as daunting as one would imagine.

I'm not saying that it's what you should definately go and do, but I just wanted to reassure that it's not as bad as you can imagine, i don't agree with the "cold turkey" analogy though, it doesn't sound right in my head.

Oh and regarding alcohol: one of my friends has gone to uni. She is completely tea total and physically cannot drink due to stomach problems. She has a raging social life, goes to bars, and it doesn't matter. If people go shitty on you cos you don't drink then move on, they're probably not worth it. Don't lie, just say that you don't feel like drinking tonight.

Jam it back in, in the dark.