{"id":279,"date":"2023-07-19T15:43:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T15:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/?p=279"},"modified":"2025-10-07T14:08:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T14:08:39","slug":"alumna-returns-to-exeter-to-mark-her-graduation-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/2023\/07\/19\/alumna-returns-to-exeter-to-mark-her-graduation-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna returns to Exeter to mark her graduation anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Tuesday 18 July we were delighted to welcome back one of our alumnae \u2013 Samantha Baines (Drama, 2008) \u2013 to celebrate the anniversary of her graduation. During her visit she reminisced about her studies, shared stories from her career and passed on words of encouragement for the graduating students from the Class of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of our graduation ceremonies yesterday, we hosted alumna Samantha Baines<\/a>, who since graduating has gone on to become a professional tv\/film actress and comedian. More recently she\u2019s become a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster working across podcasts and radio. Samantha hosts the smash hit podcast <\/em>The Divorce Social<\/em><\/a> and as a hearing aid wearer herself, she is the author of critically acclaimed children’s books with deaf main characters and the hotly anticipated non-fiction book Living With Hearing Loss and Deafness<\/em><\/a>. You may recognise her from appearances on ITV’s Loose Women<\/em>, Sky News <\/em>and Andrew Neil’s This Week <\/em>or acting roles in Netflix\u2019s The Crown, Call the Midwife, Silent Witness<\/em> and Magic Mike Live<\/em> (directed by Channing Tatum). She is also a regular on BBC radio stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year marked 15 years since her graduation and reflecting on her time at the University Samantha said: \u201cI absolutely loved my time at the University of Exeter. I made lifelong friends and my drama degree truly prepared me for a successful career in the industry. Despite having some lovely credits like The Crown and Call the Midwife, people still say \u2018ohhhh you went to Exeter\u2019 when they look at my CV\u201d.\u202f<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday during her visit she walked down memory lane and visited the Drama department, as well as having a tour of Streatham Campus, and taking the time to visit Blackwell’s and sign a copy of her latest book Living with Hearing Loss and Deafnes<\/em>s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the afternoon ceremony Samantha spoke to students graduating with degrees in Law, Drama and Liberal Arts and in her speech she shared her biggest tip for our latest alumni as they start their future journeys: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Believe in yourself. No one else knows quite what you are capable of, the strength you have inside you and the talent that is ready to be unleashed than you do. It might feel buried down quite deep in there but it\u2019s ready to be unravelled and celebrated. I give you my full permission to unleash yourselves into the world, to fulfill your potential and even your wildest dreams, to run headlong into challenges, to smash down walls, to eradicate doubt and to change the […] world. I believe in you and I hope you believe in you.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch Samantha’s speech below or on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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