Daybreak’s EIC on Social Distancing and Staying Connected

by Divya C. Reddy, 2Y 2020

You know that moment your alarm goes off…

But you can’t quite convince yourself to get out of bed yet, so you pick up your phone and start scrolling through? Well, here at Kellogg, we have something tailor-made for that moment: Daybreak.

Every morning at 6 a.m., we deliver the most relevant news for the Kellogg community — events, interviews, upcoming deadlines, and some exceptionally well-placed gifs — hot off the press from our team of witty writers who moonlight as Kellogg MBA students. We don’t want to brag, but we do believe in advocating for ourselves! So, we can share that our readers have told us we are informative, engaging, reliable, inclusive, creative, and consistent.

And who am I? That’s one secret I’m proud to share.

I joined Daybreak during my first quarter, and it has been one of my favorite parts of my Kellogg experience. I now serve as the current editor-in-chief for Daybreak. Some perks come along with that, like leading a super talented team of copy editors, feature writers and staff writers, and getting a sneak peek of each edition before our 2000+ readers! Writing for Daybreak last year helped me wrap my head around Kellogg early on, and throughout my time, has been an incredible way to build relationships with my peers and professors. Asking someone for an interview for a feature because you know they’re amazing and interesting is probably the best icebreaker I’ve found to date!

I initially got involved, because I liked the idea of being to write in a voice that was more natural and fun while enjoying some of the freeing anonymity that came with our editions (we don’t have bylines in our daily editions). I was also a Public Relations major in college, so I wanted to dust off some skills that weren’t getting much airtime in my career in operations and technology before Kellogg.

In hindsight, I’ve also realized how helpful Daybreak will be going forward. I’ve had so much hands-on practice writing for large audiences, building our brand, and partnering with organizations across Kellogg. I’ve stopped re-reading work emails to 10+ people 25 times before hitting send, and I have developed my storytelling muscles to frame nearly any story for the audience.

The absolute best part, as cliché as it sounds, has been the team. Since Daybreak needs to represent the Kellogg community broadly, I wanted to ensure the team reflected the richness of interests and backgrounds we have. We’re always looking to develop our lens as a team more — through new team members and new conversations — but I do see that richness come to life in every minute of brainstorming and developing stories. It’s invigorating, and because of that, these connections with the Daybreak staff from both years have become some of the most special ones I have made at Kellogg.

How does social distancing impact Daybreak?

While everyone is trying this remote lifestyle out, we’ve always been primarily virtual. While that gives us a bit of a head start, there’s still a lot of little things here and there that I’m focusing on. The most important is the mindset we have as a team. It’s about ensuring we acknowledge the seriousness of the situation but willingly bring some laughter as well. After all, they say it’s the best medicine! We actually made the call to bring Daybreak back during our Spring Break to add a little more structure to the week for the community as well as to help digest all the news flying around. I made a conscious effort throughout this year to tie Daybreak back to current events and life outside the Kellogg Global Hub, so in many ways, I see this as an extension of that vision.

We’re working to highlight the best parts of the community that are shining through despite this crisis. That includes the creativity coming to the surface and strong support from students, faculty, and staff. When we can, we want to share resources that are helpful for our audience — whether that’s a workout channel on YouTube for your child, interviews and tips from licensed therapists, or opportunities to give back during this trying time.

You’re curious to see how it goes, aren’t you?

It’s ok; I’m starting to feel attached to you too. Talk about being a brave leader; that’s not something I usually admit on a first read! You can sign up to get Daybreak delivered straight to your inbox at daybreakbeta.com. And if you’re looking to sharpen more than just your quant skills, shoot a quick email over to our team (hey@daybreakbeta.com) to learn more about getting involved.