Deakin Res Alumni Receive Prestigious University Awards

Three Deakin Res alumni, Lillian Maher, Shefali Dorepalli and Sarah Freeman, are recent recipients of a Deakin University Leadership Hallmark. Deakin Hallmarks are prestigious University awards that recognise students’ outstanding achievement of capabilities that are key to employment success. Each Hallmark is developed and assessed in partnership with industry, community or professional bodies to ensure that they recognise achievement that is valued in graduates, and each award is associated with standards and criteria which must be met by award recipients. 

All three award winners are alumni of our Deakin Burwood campus. Sarah lived on residence from February 2018 – March 2020. A graduate of Bairnsdale Secondary College, Sarah is completing a Bachelor of Environmental Science. Her favourite memory from her time on residence involves participating in training for her role as a Residential Leader, and Sarah notes that by living on campus at Deakin she was able to “…build amazing connections, unique friendships and feel at home in Melbourne.” 

Sarah set her heart on applying for a Deakin Leadership Hallmark when it came to her attention in her first year. She had been heavily involved in community and leadership activities prior to her time as a Residential Leader, most notably as a Senior Army Cadet, an East Gippsland Shire Council Youth Ambassador and other activities in her local area (Bairnsdale). Sarah also spent a month in Auckland, NZ, volunteering for Conservation Volunteers (credited as a subject), a month in Zambia volunteering for African Impact, and a week in Malaysia volunteering for the International School of Kuala Lumpur (we’re jealous just hearing this!). These three final projects also resulted in her receiving a Deakin University Global Citizenship Program Award.

Shefali lived on campus at Deakin from July 2018 – December 2019 and is studying a Bachelor of Biological Science. Shefali notes that living on res “…has been one of the highlights of my university experience. I was blessed with some lovely housemates whose friendship and support meant the world to me. Our residence floor was a real family and I thoroughly enjoyed socialised with them at events, big and small."

Shefali first decided to apply for a Deakin Hallmark having read a blog post written by a friend. She had been involved in a variety of leadership roles throughout high school and university, and attended a workshop organised by the Hallmark team to understand the application process. Shefali notes that the supportive environment living on res helped build her confidence when it came to applying and undertaking other leadership roles at university.

Since her time on residence, Shefali has been heavily involved in university life, acting as a Senior Orientation Ambassador, Faculty Peer Support Network Mentor, PASS Leader and Student Partner with Deakin’s Division of Student Life and Faculty Student Engagement Teams. She was also invited as a keynote speaker at the Students as Partners Virtual Roundtable in 2020, involving over 150 attendees from 50 institutions across 10 countries!

Lillian lived on campus from 2018 to the end of 2019 whilst studying a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Wildlife and Conservation Biology), having completed her high school studies at Catherine McAuley College (formerly Catholic College Bendigo). She notes her favourite memory from res as her participation in the Residential Leadership Exchange with Kent State University, US. In late 2018, Lillian hosted a group of Residential Advisors (RAs) from Kent State for a week at Deakin Residential Services, showing them around some of our favourite places in Victoria and sharing ideas on student leadership. In return, Lillian travelled to Kent State, experiencing life on campus in the US. Lillian notes that her experiences at res have had a huge impact on her both personally and professionally.

"On a professional level, my time as a Residential Leader helped me to grow my leadership skills and take on a level of responsibility I had never had before. I learnt how to work effectively in a large team, deal with difficult situations and how to plan and run events. The skills I developed as an RL have been instrumental in just about everything including part time work, university placements and more recently, helping to establish the Deakin Launch Network, which I would have never had the confidence to do prior to being an RL.”

In addition to undertaking the role of an RL, Lillian has also been a Student Ambassador with Deakin Talent, the wider University and is also a Mentor of the Deakin Engagement and Access Program. In 2020, she has also been involved with establishing an inclusive employability network for Deakin students and alumni called the Deakin Launch Network. If that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Lillian has volunteered on overseas projects including time at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda and with African Impact on their Dolphin and Marine Conservation project in Zanzibar. She was also a student volunteer on a coral health research project in Fiji as a part of the New Colombo Plan.

All three Deakin Res alumni have exciting plans for the future. Shefali has recently received the Associate Dean Summer Research Project Prize to undertake research tasks with an academic whose work she admires. Her long-term goal is to pursue a career in academia with a research focus on evolutionary biology.  Sarah is currently applying for a variety of roles within the environmental sustainability field whilst also considering her options for further study, whilst Lillian plans to undertake Honours and working at the Middle Island Penguin Project with the Maremma Guardian Dogs.

Are you interested in applying for a Deakin University Hallmark? Now is a great time to start! Sarah’s advice to others considering their application is to: