Sam Oldenburg
Talisman staff members celebrate the arrival of the Talisman magazine at the end of the fall 2019 semester.
I see relationships formed with and among students as one of the most important, everlasting outcomes of student media.
When I took a group of students to Washington D.C., I arranged with several alumni working at NPR to give our group a tour.
I've used my skills in balloon art to facilitate leadership lessons, including during a Cherry Creative editorial board retreat.
Students celebrate with their awards during the National College Media Convention in Washington D.C. in 2019.
I organized a Student Publications leadership retreat with several hand-on activities mixed with reflection periods and leadership lessons.
I opened up my kitchen to help students with food photography for the Talisman magazine.
Talisman distribution day is an exciting time for staff members at the end of every semester with the majority of the magazine copies handed out on campus during the distribution event.
I worked with editors to make the office an inviting environment for meetings and other work.
I enjoy teaching students how to use lighting equipment when they dream up elaborate shoots, such as this one for a Talisman cover.
I’ve taught tracks at the College Media Mega Workshop summer workshop five years.
I assisted the Cherry Creative photo editor with a cover shoot for Cherry Creative’s first special section after helping her scout for locations.
I helped editors plan training for their staff members then stood by to assist as they led the workshops.
I fostered a collaborative environment for students during publication production nights.
I stayed late with students when necessary to accomplish whatever needed to be done.
After helping the Cherry Creative photo editor set up for a cover shoot, I served as her test subject while fine tuning the lighting (Photo by Brittany Morrison).
I coached high school photography instructors during the Association of Texas Photography Instructors 2022 Summer Workshop for Instructors Only in Fredericksburg, Texas.
One of my responsibilities co-leading the multiplatform journalism track in the 2023 Exposure Film and Media Workshops for high school journalism students was to organize visits to three professional newsrooms in Nashville.
In fall 2021, as students struggled to find community amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I safely organized several community-building opportunities.
Before Cherry Creative photographers started visiting restaurants for the dining guide, I facilitated a lighting workshop for editors to teach skills to stage photographers.
I hosted several yearbook staffs from local high schools for photography workshops at WKU Student Publications, while also providing tours and exposing students to the opportunities available at WKU.
I've challenged Talisman editors to find new ways to engage their audience, including through going out on campus to solicit feedback and story ideas.
Click titles to view PDF reports
As a student media adviser, I follow the College Media Association's Code of Ethical Behavior and teach my students to follow professional ethic codes, including the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics and the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics.
I demonstrate establishing boundaries to help students see how to strike a balance between work and life in pursuit of a fulfillinf life in their futures.
Encouraged editors to improve diverse representation in content, which led to an increase in the proportion of individuals quoted or photographed in stories who are people of color from 13% to 31% in one yea
Much of my thinking about advising aligns with Nevitt Sanford’s student development theory focused on challenge and support. Each student is a unique individual who will be able to handle differing levels of challenge and need differing levels of support throughout their time in school. Some of the challenges my students face arise from student media; some challenges come from other aspects of their life, and some may even be challenges I confront them with. Regardless of where my students’ challenges arise from, I do my best to provide the appropriate support to help them learn and grow.
I stay up-to-date with hardware and software necessary for media production, including:
I value the growth of student media as a whole along with the development of high school and college journalists across the country. Therefore, I spend volunteer my time to help other student media programs through service to Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Association, Journalism Education Association and other organizations as detailed on page two of my resume.
I collaborated with students and professional staff members at WKU Student Publications to form Cherry Creative, a branded content studio, in 2018 and served as adviser to the group. Cherry Creative is a team of designers, photographers, videographers and writers who have created innovative products and events that serve the local business community while bringing in revenue, offsetting declines in traditional advertising.
Pivoting at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we created the WKU Graduate Gallery as a place for parents to celebrate their spring 2020 graduates and continued to publish the site each semester. The largest source of revenue during the early months of the pandemic, the gallery brought in more than $4,500 in its first year. Later, the Graduate Gallery was transitioned into a print product, with the 2024-2024-2025 editions bringing in more than $24,000.
We held our first WKU Housing Fair in March 2019 and held the second event a year later. The fair quickly become one our largest single sources of revenue each year. When the event couldn't be held in person in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I led brainstorming to create a digital version, WKU Housing Week, and spearheaded a redesign of WKUApartments.com in collaboration with student leaders to include 360-degree tours and other interactive elements. WKU Housing Week brought $14,950 in revenue, only $2,800 less than the previous year's in-person event. The last in-person housing fairs I was involved with, during the 2024-2025 school year, brought in $33,300
In response to staffing shortages at local businesses in 2021, I developed the Hiring Hilltoppers newsletter and made it a reality by working with the Cherry Creative director to send the weekly email newsletter to all WKU students.
Special sections on a variety of topics are published throughout the school year and include both sponsored content and traditional display advertising.
I guided students in producing four dining guides in collaboration with the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau, the most recent of which generated more than $20,000 and involved dozens of local businesses
I advised students as they produced nearly 100 sponsored content pieces for local businesses in print or online during Cherry Creative’s first six years. Writers, photographers, videographers and designers worked on the pieces that were published in a variety of publications
Looking to escape from the rain, Louisville senior Jasmine Taylor walks down Avenue of Champions to a tent on South Lawn at Western Kentucky University Sept 1, 2012. The rain before WKU's first football game of the season caused Topper Walk, a pre-game tradition in which players, cheerleaders and marching band members walk to the stadium, to be cancelled.
Megan Hildebrand slides safely into home plate to score in the fifth inning of Aquinas Institute’s 5-3 loss to Geneva May 29 in the Section Five Class A2 championship game at the State University of New York at Brockport.
After celebrating Mass, Father Augustine Davis (left) and Father Cletus Miller move through the hallway connecting the Archabbey Church to the cloistered area of the monastery at Saint Meinrad Archebbey in Saint Meinrad, Ind., March 18, 2013. The community of monks begins its day with prayer at 5:30 in the morning followed by breakfast and silent, spiritual reading before Mass at 7:30 a.m.
Leading her teammates to the bus bound for the State Girls Basketball Tournament, senior Shay Walker sprays silly string on students lining the hallways of Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, W. Va., Wednesday, March 9, 2011.
Ni'Kerrion McDonald of Lexington works out a problem on the chalkboard in Mathematics during the Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth (VAMPY) Friday, July 1, 2016.
VAMPY camper Olivia Gilliam of Madisonville inspects her screwdriver before attaching two boards to be used for a Rube Goldberg machine in the STEAM Labs class July 3, 2015. The finished machine used a complicated series of tasks to complete a simple task.
Brittnee Dailey of Bowling Green has makeup put on by Brittany Cline before the opening of The Apocalypse Haunted Attraction at 1210 Church Street Oct. 5, 2012. Cline's husband, Sammy Martin, opened the haunted house for the first time in 2012. He and his children live for Halloween, Cline said.
Jenna Brooks (from left), Celina Rescott, Judy Rescott, Maggie Flurschutz and Mallory Colella dance and sing-along to "By the Love of God," the 2013 theme song for the National Catholic Youth Conference at the end of NCYC's opening ceremony Nov. 21, 2013, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Defending state champion Brandon Barnett, a senior from Harrison County, puts a hold on Union County senior Thomas Buckman in the 189 pound championship match at the Kentucky High School Athletics Association State Wrestling Tournament Feb. 19, 2011. Buckman went on to defeat Barnett, handing him his first loss in two years.
Eleven-year-old Liorell Gray tries to dunk over his cousin 13-year-old Thomas Maxey while playing basketball with their soon-to-be cousin, 12-year-old Meikiel Ya Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. The three were playing outside of Gray's home on Gatewood Drive in Bowling Green.
Kindergartner Jackson Hickey takes a prayerful stance while Father Bob Ring gives a blessing over the new Early Learning Center at St. Louis School in Pittsford Sept. 20, 2013.
Olivia Taylor (left) and Isaac Bunch work out a problem together in Mathematical Patterns in Nature during Winter Super Saturdays Feb. 7, 2015.
Kinleigh Neal, a 3-year-old from Bowling Green, is encouraged to visit Santa Nov. 10, 2012, at Deemer's Flowers in Bowling Green. Murray McCandless of Elizabethtown played Santa at the store's Christmas open house. "I looked in the mirror one day, said 'I'm fat and have a white beard, what am I going to do?'" said McCandles, who is in his fifth year playing Santa.
Magnolia senior Aleshia Akin practices a backbend before a football game Oct. 17, 2009, while the Big Red Marching Band rehearses behind her outside Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University. A backbend to touch a plume to the field before football games is a tradition for field commanders at Division 1 schools.
Jonathan Willistein (from left), James Pike, Alice Swarthout and Jim Stocks pray at the end of a Bible study May 20, 2014, at the house they stayed at in Louisa, Ky, during a mission trip to the Appalachian region.
Anslee Tipton, 13 days old, captures the attention of her father, Reggie, as he prepares to begin his day as a pastor in Nancy, Ky.
A student musician rehearses in a practice hut during her evening free time at Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan. Now in its 83rd year, the camp is attended by around 2,500 students between the ages of 8 and 18 for two, three or six week stints.
Matthew Chapman of Fort Campbell closes his eyes while a classmate brushes baby powder over his makeup in Clowning during the Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students (SCATS) Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
A competitor climbs a cliff during the BG Gauntlet, the first annual mud run held to benefit the Family Enrichment Center Aug. 25, 2012, at Phil Moore Park in Bowling Green.
Christina Bradley fights for the ball during the Women's Club Rugby Team's 10-69 loss to the University of Alabama Jan. 22, 2012, at the Preston Intramural Complex at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
Senior Jeremy Evans slam dunks a basket during the second half of a game against the University of North Texas Jan. 28, 2010, in Diddle Arena. WKU lost to UNT 83-84 in overtime.
Pastel colors fill the western sky at sunrise as seen from Kuwohi inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee on Oct. 10, 2023.
Joshua Trees along Black Rock Canyon Trail are hit by early-morning sunlight at Joshua Tree National Park in California on March 1, 2022.
The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, fill the sky above the Green River at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on Oct. 10, 2024.
The Milky Way core spans the sky above Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky on May 22, 2025.
A snail crosses the Meigs Creek Trail inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee on May 21, 2023.
The sun sets off the coast of Natural Bridges State Marine Reserve in California on Nov. 2, 2025.
At California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the bark of a coast redwood shows signs of recovery in November 2025, five years after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned 86,509 acres, including 97% of the park.
Bluebells bloom along Echo River Springs Trail at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on March 31, 2024.
Snowflakes cling to tree bark at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on Jan. 11, 2025.
A mother Black Bear stays close to her cubs in the Cades Cove area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on May 23, 2023, in Tennessee.
An American bison romps through tall grasses just before sunset at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky on Dec. 12, 2023.
A bull elk keeps watch on a young elk and two females in the Oconaluftee River during the fall rut on Sept. 30, 2023, at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
Foliage is reflected on Sprague Lake inside Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado shortly after sunrise Oct. 6, 2024.
A crescent moon hangs in the sky above Sunset Point at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky Nov. 6, 2021.
Joshua Trees stand under the stars, seen as streaks in the sky with a long exposure photograph, at Black Rock Campground in Joshua Tree National Park in California Feb. 28, 2022.
Leaves in fall colors line the trees along Green River Bluffs Trail at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky Nov. 6, 2021.
Fog hangs low into the trees along Echo River Springs Trail inside Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky Sept. 26, 2021.
The sun rises behind pine trees atop Cadillac Mountain inside Acadia National Park in Maine on July 31, 2023.
The Smoky Mountains, as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, are basked in golden light just before sunset on Sept. 30, 2023.
Fall foliage surrounds Bean and Bear Lakes in Tettegouche State Park along Minnesota's North Shore on Oct. 12, 2025.
Geese fly south over the St. Croix River in Minnesota's Wild River State Park on Oct. 19, 2025.
