Experience the NY Stock Exchange closing bell through this Wichita State student

When you turn 100, doing something especially commemorative is in order, and Wichita State University’s Barton School of Business found just the thing.

On Monday, a group of faculty, students and alums experienced a Wall Street tradition by ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. (You can see the official NYSE video of the moment at www.nyse.com/bell.)

Simply having the opportunity to go “was such a shock,” said junior Ellie Stringer.

She is a double majoring in finance and economics with a minor in marketing.

Stringer and fellow students knew it was special to be there; however, she said it didn’t entirely hit her how momentous it was until she was there.

“I was like whoa, whoa, whoa. . . . Once we were in the building, I was physically excited from head to toe. . . . Almost electric.”

The entire experience was “longer than you’d expect.”

Stringer said it wasn’t like they simply showed up, rang a bell and left.

For starters, she said, “There’s a pretty hefty security process. Not a lot of people get to go in.”

There was a staging room with refreshments.

And she said “our logo was blasted all over the building.”

“We felt really honored to be there.”

The Stock Exchange’s website has a page devoted to the history of the bell ringing. It says, in part:

“Bells were first used at the Exchange in the 1870s with the advent of continuous trading. A Chinese gong was the original bell of choice. But in 1903, when the Exchange moved to its current building, the gong was replaced by a brass bell -- electrically operated and large enough in size to resonate throughout the voluminous main trading floor. Today, each of the four trading areas of the NYSE has its own bell, operated synchronously from a single control panel.”

With the ringing on Monday, Stringer said, “There was a lot of clapping and smiling and cheering.”

And, yes, a number of people waved the Shocker hand sign, too.

Some WSU alums who live in New York stopped by to show support and meet the students.

“It was really cool,” Stringer said.

As they were on a bus leaving afterward, she said everyone shared videos of the experience.

“Every 30 seconds, you could hear the bell from one seat or another.”

This may not be Stringer’s only trip to the Stock Exchange.

When asked if she’ll be back, Stringer began contemplating it.

Displaying the self assurance that’s perhaps necessary to have a demanding double major and a minor, too, she said:

“I’ll be the CEO of something one day, so we’ll see. Maybe I’ll be releasing my IPO.”