Sophomore Neeley Fellows are set to spend spring break in New York City to get a taste of what business is like in the city that never sleeps.

The students will get a chance to visit the New York Stock Exchange, meet with different marketing agencies, network with TCU alumni and shake hands with some of the biggest names on Wall Street.

Meredith Kirk, a junior Neeley Fellow who went on the trip last year, said she felt the trip was a unique learning opportunity that gave meaning to many different lessons learned in the classroom.

“The most beneficial part of the trip was networking and meeting professionals in New York, as well as getting to see what working in New York would be like,” Kirk said. “We had the choice of which firms we wanted to visit. Most of the companies were marketing firms or banks. All of the visits were so informative and helpful in learning about both fields.”

The trip has been a tradition since 2008. Stacy Landreth Grau, academic director for the Fellows program, said this is one of the primary experiential aspects of the Neeley Fellows Program.

“We head there during the spring break week, where we visit corporate icons like Goldman Sachs and UBS as well as the NY Stock Exchange and Madison Avenue ad agencies,” Grau said.

Students have been preparing for the trip for the last several months. They were put into pairs, and each pair was given a company to research and expected to do additional exploring on their own.

“I bought a 15-week subscription of the Wall Street Journal, and I have been reading articles when I get a chance so that I have common topics to discuss when I am talking with alumni and business executives,” sophomore Jim Brazeal said.

Students will have the opportunity to visit a wide range of companies, including Footlocker of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and NBC Universal. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to network at a dinner with TCU alumni that are working in New York.

“I’m really excited to just talk to them about life and what TCU was like when they were there,” Madelyn Carter, a sophomore Neeley Fellow, said. “I also want to know how TCU helped them get where they are now. I’m also really excited to bond with my cohort.”