For most college students, summer is a time to relax and perhaps make some extra money. But Thomas Vatter of Navarre ran away with the circus.
Vatter can be seen six days a week at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., where he is featured in a tightrope show as part of Florida State University’s Flying High Circus.
The club was founded in 1947 shortly after FSU integrated men at the school. The circus was a way to allow men and women to be active in one club. Today, the club still unites students from all walks of life.
“We’ve got everyone from almost every major that’s a part of it,” said Vatter, a 20-year-old biology student. “We all just love to perform.
The Navarre High School graduate joined the circus club last year as a sophomore. He assisted in several shows and worked on acts he hoped to perform in this year’s spring showcase in Tallahassee.
Candidates for the circus are tested on their strength, flexibility and balance as well as their abilities to perform circus-type acts such as juggling and jumping on a trampoline.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d get in,” Vatter said. “I was just hoping to find out what I needed to work on so I could spend a year doing that. Miraculously, I got it.”
The students also work behind the scenes moving props and working the lights and sound system.
Vatter is a recreation counselor at Calloway Gardens during the day. At night he is one of four students who balance on a wire 8 feet off the ground while performing other stunts. Vatter says he uses a metal ring as part of his show.
His last show in Georgia this summer will be Aug. 3
“We don’t get college credit and we don’t get paid,” Vatter said. “We all just do it because we like it. It’s better than homework.”