Throughout our dating lives, we often pursue people that are either out of our league, or simply aren’t sharing the same amount of interest as we have in them. Sometimes, we are lucky enough to land the perfect 10. Other times, we are put in the dreaded friend zone.

Typically, the friend zone is seen more of a place where girls place guys they aren’t interested in. Although it happens vice versa, the chances of a girl being placed in the friend zone is not as likely.

CSUN junior, Marcus Strum, gave his two cents about experiencing both sides of the friend zoning issue.

“I think it typically happens because the person being zoned doesn’t make their feelings clear,” Strum said. “I think it occurs equally among both genders, but it happens to be more noticeable with guys.”

Strum also gave a personal recollection of what it felt like to be put in the friend zone.

“There was this girl I was really into in high school but I put off asking her out for too long,” Strum said. “When I finally did, she was upset because she felt like I was deceiving her; almost like I was lying because I didn’t make things clear from the start.”

After being placed in the friend zone and summing up his feelings from his delayed initiation, Strum made it out to be a learning experience.

“It definitely changed the way I looked at the whole thing,” Strum said. “I feel like some guys tend to get really nervous about asking girls out, and would rather go along with the whole ‘friends’ things than make their feelings clear.”

Friend zones can happen to the best of us. It happens to people of all color, shapes, sizes and even people with various sexual orientations.

CSUN public relations major, Bryan Cox, discusses his experience with friend zoning.

“While it is more common for girls to place guys in the friend zone, I think it is possible for it to be reversed,” Cox said. “I mean, I’ve done it intentionally to girls before, mostly because they don’t know I’m gay.”

Cox gave his overall perspective on how he views the friend zone amongst the CSUN population.

“Being in the friend zone is a lot like not being prepared for a test,” Cox said. “While there is a chance you can get lucky and pass, you’re more likely to fail.”

The friend zone is something many people experience, particularly college students who are active in the dating scene. Although we can’t always help the fact that we are placed in the friend zone, we must learn to deal with the pain.

“I’d like to meet one guy who hasn’t been trapped in the friend zone before, because let me say, it’s the worst place to be in,” Cox said.

Check out Mr. and Mrs. voicing their opinions about the friend zone, or even catch a campus reaction video.