On a sunny day, senior Miah Wilson hopes to make the day even brighter by handing out balloon animals to students at Tyler Haynes Commons.

“It’s something that just brings joy and it's a nice little break,” Wilson said as she sits with a pump and a bag of long, skinny balloons. Wearing a balloon flower hat, she pumps air into each balloon and then twists off small pieces. The sections squeak as she contorts them into shapes. She creates a yellow dog, and a little blue mouse. Her most popular request is a sword.

“I like to share them on nice days or during midterms or finals when people are stressed.”

Her goal is to help college students rediscover the joy of childhood, even if just for a brief moment.

Wilson started making balloon animals in high school during the pandemic, while feeling bored at home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She ordered a kit and watched instructional videos on YouTube. She also took up knitting, crocheting, and sewing during that time.

When she got to college, she ordered a bag of 400 balloons and began venturing out to give away her creations during her very first semester. “I got to have short, random conversations with a ton of people,” she said, smiling.

As a cognitive science major with minors in linguistics, computer science, and math, Wilson is interested in people, especially their minds.

“I changed my major about five times,” she said. “I have a thousand different interests, and I wanted the freedom to explore all those areas. That’s what makes being a student at Richmond so great.”

One of her professors describes her as an exceptionally intelligent and motivated student. “Miah Wilson has a high capacity for reflective and intellectually probing questions,” said Thomas Bonfiglio, coordinator of linguistics. “Her creativity extends from balloon science to insightful analyses of the perception and judgment of AI-generated texts. She will present on this at the A&S Student Symposium in April.”

Wilson is currently researching people’s confidence in their capacity to tell the difference between human and computer-generated speech. “What I am interested in is the psychological, social, and linguistic reasons behind why people think they are able to distinguish between AI and human-generated text,” Wilson said. "Specifically, the uncanny valley phenomenon, an effect that observes increased repulsion as an object or character achieves increased human likeness. For example, I'm exploring the discomfort caused by ultra-realistic robots."

She chose UR after visiting 28 colleges with her dad.

“I was looking at really academically significant schools,” Wilson said. “When I stepped on Richmond’s campus, I felt like I could return the next day and integrate myself into the community easily.”

Today, the Presidential Scholar serves as a tour guide, mentor, and lead office assistant for the Office of Admission. Wilson’s other extracurricular activities include serving as second chair cellist in the University Orchestra and participating in CRU (a college ministry), the Games Club, and the Knitting Club. She is in a mathematics research group, a linguistic independent study, and recently joined Pi Mu Epsilon, Richmond's Mathematics Honor Society.

Wilson has met many people through her balloon animals. She’s just finished her second bag of 400 balloons.

 “I think it’s cool she’s taking time out of her day to help others feel better,” said senior Dylan Steinert, who received a balloon flower from Wilson.

While crafting her creations, she asks the recipient which color and type of animal or object they prefer. This allows her a few minutes to chat with them a bit.

“I'm actually connecting with people,” she said. “That’s my favorite part of the experience.”