Interestingly enough, being stuck down here all alone has actually helped increase the number of friends I consider close. In Clemson, I kind of focused all my social energies on the select few friends that occupy the "Govies & more" group on my buddy list, to the exclusion of most of my other existing friendships.

Being down here and unable to spend every minute of every day hanging out with Meg et al. has forced me out of the comfortable hiding hole into which habit had driven me, and caused me to broaden my net and reestablish contact with all the friends I had fallen out of contact with, or that I'd never really gotten to know well.

While my life is still very lacking in physical interaction, socially I've actually improved, and I'm now good friends with a much larger group of people than the small circle I was limiting myself to before. I hate having to grudgingly admit that something you'd cursed and despised has actually been beneficial to you.