Student Voice Series
01 Hallmarks with Ari Moore & Trina Jorre de St Jorre

By Dr. Trina Jorre de St Jorre, Senior Lecturer, Student Achievement, Dekain Learning Futures & Ari Moore, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Graduate.

Trina: Our congratulations to Ari Moore for having achieved the first Deakin Hallmark for Excellence in Leadership.

Deakin Hallmarks are prestigious University awards designed to give Deakin students an edge in the employment market. They are co-developed with industry and professional bodies to ensure that they reward capabilities and warrant achievement that is prized in the workplace.

The Deakin Hallmark for Leadership Excellence was developed with Bendigo Community Bank and non-for-profit University to Community (U2C) Inc. to recognise Deakin students who use their leadership skills to contribute to communities through sustained and effective leadership.

To achieve the Hallmark students must submit a digital portfolio, written reflection and video pitch providing compelling evidence of having met the Hallmark standards, including their ability to lead diverse people and projects, and evidence of personal and social impact through leadership.

 Ari: Applying for the award pushed me to deliberately consider my experience in a reflective way. What impact have I produced during my time at Deakin? How have I developed my skills over the last few years? The best reason to apply, however, is to receive feedback. All six reviewers took the time to indicate where my portfolio was strong, and where I could improve. No matter what the application outcome is, this is a rare chance to receive objective, in-depth advice about where you’re going well, and where you could be stronger.

Trina: Ari submitted an impressive portfolio of leadership activities, drawing on peer mentoring and student representative roles, and promotion of youth-focussed initiatives during an internship at the Parliament of Victoria, amongst other achievements.

External panel members commended Ari on the high standard of her application, breadth of engagement and “commitment to making a difference”.

Ari: Even if you’re a first-year and thinking about it, you can intentionally set goals now to improve your Leadership, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Creativity or Digital Innovation skills with the view of applying later. Applying for a Hallmark pushes you to consider how far you’ve come, but also where gaps exist in your skillset, and where you’d like to go. If I could use a few words to sum up why you should apply for a Hallmark, I would say the process is: orienting; inspiring; and confidence-building.

Trina: Ari will receive a digital credential that validates her achievement and can be shared publically through professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Her award will also be formally recognised on her statement of academic achievement at graduation.

All Deakin students are eligible to apply for a Deakin Hallmarks recognising excellence in Leadership, Creativity, Entrepreneurial thinking and Digital innovation. Some students may also apply for discipline-specific Hallmarks aligned to Deakin graduate learning outcomes, which recognise the importance of communication, teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking, self-management, digital literacy and global citizenship.

For more information and application dates visit:

Hallmarks  or email hallmarks@deakin.edu.au