We celebrate our 2025 Students Helping Students Award winners!
We’re excited to announce the winners of the 2025 Students Helping Students (SHS) Awards — a celebration of the incredible peer mentors who make a real difference in the lives of fellow students at Deakin. This year we celebrated at Deakin Downtown on 20 October and pictured below are some of our Awardees.
What is Students Helping Students?
Students Helping Students (SHS) is a university-wide initiative that brings together all of Deakin’s peer mentoring programs. It’s designed to connect students with experienced peers who offer support across academic, social, and personal areas. Whether it’s help with assignments, study tips, or adjusting to university life, SHS creates a welcoming space where students support each other, build confidence, and form lasting friendships.
Hear from our mentors
Jeremy Palmer, one of this year’s Emerging Award recipients shared:
‘When I first started out at university, I struggled to feel like I belong, I missed all my friends who were overseas or at other universities. But when I got involved in these programs this year, I met so many amazing people, coworkers, new students, supervisors and they impacted me as much as I impacted them.’
I felt like a part of a community, and I felt like I belonged.
Experienced Award recipient, Maheen Irfan, also reflected: ‘The power of peer support lies in its simplicity. It’s not grand speeches or perfect solutions.’
It’s the quiet reminder, student to student, that you do belong here and you can do this.
About the SHS Awards
The SHS Awards are more than just recognition — they’re a chance for mentors to reflect on their journey, the skills they’ve developed, and the impact they’ve had. Through informal learning and peer support, mentors grow alongside their mentees, gaining insights that shape their university experience and beyond.
We’re proud to announce this year’s winners:
- Emerging Award recipients: Ankur Chawla, Janice Mascarenhas, Jeremy Palmer, Jemima Busasa, Chloe Borja, Shishira Roy Abraham, Christy Wu, Oshani Samiri Wijerathna Jayaweera Arachchige Dona, Shreya Mittal, Chloe Borcic.
- Experienced Award recipients: Isabella Sloan, Charli Forsyth, Shania Hamilton, Stephanie Willingham, Lok Yi Joyce Chan, Hoang Cam Vi Vo, Kaviya Ramma Naiken, Aamya Gupta, Shawnee Balogh, Thi Ngoc Hieu Le, Tadiwanahse Nothando Madzudzo, Sobin Paul Singh Dhanjal, Maheen Irfan, Jayendra Weerakoon, Srijana Bhusal, Tayyiba Rahman, Noah Conroy, Telisia Smith.
A special thank you goes to DeakinTALENT Ambassador Ritik Ahuja for capturing the spirit of the celebration through his photography — see the gallery below for highlights from the evening.
Cassandra Iannucci, Director of Student Outcomes in the Student Success Division says, ‘It was a privilege to hear from two of the student awardees formally, and others informally, who shared powerful stories of the learning and confidence they’ve gained through their experiences being mentors across various university programs.’
Want to get involved?
Interested in becoming a mentor or finding support from one? Visit the Peer Mentoring website to learn more. You never know who you’ll meet, what you’ll learn, or how you’ll grow.
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