Adam Barnes saw just how many students recognize his eye-catching top hat and unicycle when he set up a Facebook page last week. Since creating the page “Unicycle Guy at LSU” last week, the communication studies sophomore has garnered more than 400 fans. “Eventually I just gave in to the pressure,” Barnes said. “Right now, I don’t have any plans for it.” But he also began teaching unicycle lessons for free last week, after he was approached about potential tutoring. With his multiple unicycles, Barnes said he can teach up to three people at a time, but he’s best with one-on-one lessons. He developed a passion for single-wheeled transportation in his hometown of Oahu, Hawaii. Barnes picked up his first unicycle for $2 at a garage sale during his junior year of high school. “Anything that wasn’t being sold was going to Goodwill,” he said. “So I thought, ‘I’m not going to pass up this deal, I’m going to get a $2 unicycle.'” While his purchase sat in his garage for a year, Barnes joined a friend his senior year of high school in a free unicycling lesson with the University of Hawaii’s juggling club. Since then, he’s developed a knack for the hobby. While the streets in Hawaii may have proven more efficient for unicycling, Barnes said navigating the cracks and grooves of sidewalks near LSU’s campus isn’t too difficult for unicyclists. “Once you get good on a unicycle, the condition of the road really doesn’t matter,” he said. As for his top hat, Barnes has been keeping his head warm since childhood. His grandfather gave him his first top hat after noticing his affinity for a bowler hat he wore in high school. But Barnes’ interests delve much deeper than his iconic hat and cycle. He keeps busy attending school, working at the Student Union Bookstore and, of course, donating free hugs. It’s something he said people can appreciate. Some afternoons, students can catch him in the Quad or in front of the Union with a “free hugs” sign, offering a quick cuddle for students in need. “At some point in Hawaii, I just picked up a sign and started giving free hugs,” he said. “Every once in a while somebody would be like, ‘Oh I really needed that. My boyfriend just left me’ or ‘I’m struggling to pay rent.'” Barnes said he hopes to develop a career as a professional photographer. Photography proved interesting to him from a young age. The first time Barnes ever shot photos was in preschool; his mother brought him to the zoo and gave him a disposable camera. “We got to go behind the scenes,” he said. “I got to feed rhinos and sit on elephants. It was the first time I ever used a camera.” In high school, Barnes took three years of photography classes, and by the third year, he was instructing other students. He then pursued an internship with Shoot! Photography, which extended him a job offer that he is still considering. While Barnes found some great opportunities for photography in his hometown, he still wanted to leave for college – largely because of Oahu’s small size and tourist attractions. “Everything I wanted to take a picture of was already on a postcard,” he said. Barnes said he has put photography on the back burner for the moment, with other hobbies, work and school taking up much of his time. With more attention placed on his unicycling, Barnes hesitantly appreciates the praise. “Sometimes it’s great for my ego, but other times I feel like I’m just a novelty to some people,” he explained. “I’m not an actual person to some without my unicycle or my top hat.” While Clint Esmond, a business junior, became a fan of ‘Unicycle Guy at LSU,’ he told The Daily Reveille over Facebook that he likes Barnes, but still sees him as another student, like himself. “He just likes to unicycle. He rides his unicycle everywhere and by my work at Five Guys every day. He’s a really nice kid,” Esmond said. “I feel like people’s over obsession with famous people and people in general these days is going to make it a bigger deal than it really is, since he made a fan page for himself, but more power to him.” ____ Contact Austen Krantz at [email protected]