Seniors from Business Teacher Andrew Lange’s business classes are on a field trip to New York City for an interactive trip for students to learn about business.

“New York City is the center of finance for the world,” Lange said. “Being in New York City is awesome and being able to pick up on different elements that don’t exist here in Saint Louis. It is also 48 hours of networking in a really condensed setting that would be difficult to do here. ”

The trip starts bright and early on Thursday with a 6 AM departure from Saint Louis Lambert International Airport and arrives back in town on Saturday evening.

“I think it is important for De Smet students can use the resources they have,” Senior Luke Rimsky said. “I have never been to New York and visiting the city, one of the biggest cities in the world, is really exciting”

Because the students all come from Lange’s class the trip is business focused and will visit many alumni including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Vice President of Supply, Pete Kraemer ‘84 and Deutsche Bank, Managing Director, Steve Valentino `84.

“Networking, getting to know people in the game that are also De Smet alums is important because hopefully, I will be in contact with them,” Senior Jackson Daesch said. “I plan on going to business school and knowing those guys would certainly be advantageous”

Students will also get to see historic business sites such as Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, and the 9/11 Memorial.

“One of the things that this trip provides that we don’t get with the alumni mentorship lunch is access to fields of business that don’t exist as much in the midwest,” Lange said. “The guys we met with last year also offered help to the students on anything they needed in the business world”

The trip also includes non-business ventures such as the chance to explore New York at a Broadway theater and Little Italy.

“I am excited to see New York and see the businesses and how they can be run in a place as big as New York because it is a lot different from Saint Louis,” Rimsky said. “I am also excited to see tourist destinations as well.”

This is the second time a class has gone to New York and Lange has gone both times, but the trip is a closed application to Seniors who have taken one of Lange’s classes: Intro to Business, Business, Personal Finance, or Economics.

“It was the highlight of my school year last year,” Lange said. “It’s not an open invitation as of now so if it is something you are wanting to do Senior year you have to take one of the business classes and do well in it and show an above-average interest in the material.”