Lauren Zaser / Jenny Chang / Via BuzzFeed

Erik: As far as dating goes, my height became less and less of an issue as I got older. When I was a teenager — I was 6'4" by the time I turned 16 — I got nowhere with the ladies. At that age, everyone is freaking out about their appearance because they just want to fit in. Having an extreme physical characteristic that's totally out of your control can be pretty crushing when your self-esteem hinges on fitting in. And there's nothing less attractive than low self-esteem.

Another thing that can make it difficult to fit in is having a giant sad guy following you around everywhere, so I don't blame the ladies for passing on that opportunity back then. Even the girl in the arcade at the bowling alley, who, when 15-year-old me worked up the nerve to ask her out on date, answered, "You're too tall." I'm totally not upset about that anymore, but I think a simple no would've done the trick.

Anyway, everything changed once I got to college. Everyone just ping-pongs around the universe, building identities all over again. Interactions with people become less superficial and you gravitate toward people who genuinely interest you. If you're tall, with a strong jaw, and you've spent the past few years practicing brooding, you do exceedingly well during this time.

Lots of people are still incredibly rude to me and say things about my height all the time. Tourists try to sneak photos with me. Guys try to pick fights with me in bars. When I was younger I would have internalized that and blamed myself and not seen it for what it actually is — a deep character flaw in those other people. Having an extreme physical characteristic is useful in that way. The way people react to it tells you a lot about them in an instant. Now, I'm engaged to a smart and beautiful woman who tells me that she likes my height. And since you're probably wondering, she's 5'6".