In the volleyball gym after school, one player stands a full head above the rest. He doesn’t need to jump his highest to spike the ball; he just puts his arm up. Daniel Vishnevskiy, a senior at Van Nuys High School, is 6 feet 6 inches tall. Daniel is an outside hitter for the school’s volleyball team and moved to Los Angeles from Moscow, Russia about seven years ago. He says the first thing people ask him, every single time, is how tall he is, a conversation he’s been having since he was already the size of an adult in fifth grade.

Volleyball teammates note that while Vishnevskiy’s height is the first thing anyone notices but his focus on the power of his hits is what defines him. Vishnevskiy sat down with The Mirror to talk about what it is actually like to be the tallest person in almost every room he walks into.

Q: How tall were you in elementary school and when did you realize you were going to be much taller than most people?

A: In fifth grade, I was already 5-foot-8-inch. I realized I’d be taller than most people because, well, I was 5-foot-8-inch in the fifth grade. I was always the tallest kid; it didn’t just happen all at once.

Q: What is the dumbest thing a stranger has said to you about your height?

A: People just say, “There’s no way you’re in fifth grade.” It happens more here than it did in Russia, honestly. I don’t really have a go-to response for it. I just deal with it.

Q: Walk me through a regular problem you run into that a 5-foot-8-inch person never thinks about. Something small.

A: Doorways. Regular people just walk through, but I have to fully bend down just to get into a room. Going on airplanes is the worst, the seats are made for little boys. My feet don’t even go forward, they have to go sideways into the aisle. I have to pay an extra $200 for the premium seats every single time just to sit alone and fit.

Q: What is one thing about the way you play volleyball that has nothing to do with height?

A: Since jumping at 6-foot-6-inch is actually kind of hard, I focus all my time on hitting the ball as hard as I can. I think the harder you hit, the better the results you get.

Q: Is it harder for you to buy or find clothes that fit you?

A: Finding clothes is horrendous. My pants have to be at the minimum 3XL. The ones I’m wearing now are 5XL.

Q: What is one thing you want to do in the next few years that has nothing to do with volleyball or being tall?

A: I’m going to college to get more knowledge and pursue an academic degree. But I also plan to keep growing in wisdom. In ten years, I see myself maybe in Mongolia or Chad just somewhere near Africa.