Charlie Armstrong had never seen New York City before October 2025. Lauren Daukaus grew up there. By the time these first-year law students got on the plane back to North Carolina, they’d reached opposite conclusions about their futures, and both were exactly right.
That’s what a good Career Trek looks like.
Twenty-one first-year students spent two days in Manhattan meeting with attorneys at some of the biggest firms in finance: Cadwalader, Kirkland & Ellis, Fried Frank, Mayer Brown. They sat in conference rooms 40 floors up, asked questions about fund finance and mergers & acquisitions, and networked with more than 30 Carolina Law alumni at an evening reception. The whole thing was possible because Mike Mascia ’98, co-head of Fund Finance at EverBank, wanted to show students what Wall Street looks like up close.
“Carolina Law is well on its way to building the premier law school offering for students interested in banking and finance,” said Mascia. “Getting our students on-location exposure to Wall Street is an essential component of the experience. Our hope is that the Career Trek drives home that a finance career at the highest level is well within reach.”
Armstrong walked out of those glass towers knowing something important: he didn’t want to work in them. Not because they weren’t impressive — they were. But standing in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by millions of people, he kept thinking about home. “I’ve always been someone who has felt strongly tied to North Carolina,” said Armstrong. “Visiting the city reminded me of how my entire support system that I have built in my life is in North Carolina, something that I would have to leave behind if I moved to New York.”
The trip clarified something deeper than geography. “It reinforced the idea in my head that I should pursue a career in a field that I’m passionate about, rather than one that I can make a lot of money in,” said Armstrong.
Daukaus, meanwhile, left those same meetings feeling the opposite: this was exactly where she belonged. The trip didn’t change her mind about Big Law. It showed her the path was real, not just theoretical. “The trip demystified the process quite a bit,” said Daukaus. “Getting to actually visit offices and speak to people who successfully went through recruiting cycles made the whole thing feel so much less daunting as I’ve started sending out applications this semester.”
What surprised Daukaus most was learning that even at elite firms, people’s paths weren’t as linear as she’d imagined. “Although we exclusively visited Big Law firms in New York City, many of the attorneys we spoke to originally started in more ‘mid law’ firms or came from other cities,” said Daukaus.
The same trip gave two students completely different answers about their futures, and both takeaways were valuable. That’s the whole idea. The Career Trek isn’t trying to recruit students to New York or talk them out of it. It gives them enough real information to make their own decisions.
And it’s working. Shawn McKenna, senior director of employer engagement, is already planning a longer version for next year: two and a half days instead of two, more time with attorneys, and an afternoon at a Practicing Law Institute conference. The program is growing because students need this kind of exposure early, before recruiting season forces decisions.
More than 30 alumni showed up to help make that early exposure happen. They took time away from their practices to sit with first-year students and answer questions. Edwin Kellermann ’24 from Kirkland & Ellis was one of them. The face-to-face conversations matter, he said, because students get to “build crucial connections from the very beginning of their law school careers instead of having to wait until application season or otherwise.”
That’s the kind of engagement that builds a law school’s reputation in places like New York. Michael Urschel ’07, also from Kirkland & Ellis, has watched it happen. A triple Tar Heel who earned three degrees from Carolina, he sees Carolina Law’s profile rising in markets where it matters. The trek helps because when students and alumni connect like this, firms notice.
The program ties back to something bigger than recruiting or networking. Interim Dean Andy Hessick sees it as central to what Carolina Law is trying to do: prepare students through real experience while serving North Carolina. “These opportunities not only provide invaluable preparation for our graduates who are entering the legal profession; they also further our mission of serving North Carolina and its people,” said Hessick. “We are grateful to our alumni for making these opportunities possible.”
Armstrong will probably practice in North Carolina, while Daukaus will probably end up in New York. Both of them know that now, in their first year, instead of figuring it out the hard way later. That kind of clarity is worth more than any business card they brought home.
Gifts to the Law Annual Fund support experiential learning experiences like the Career Trek.
