Sam Simon's WRIT 340 Blog

Overall, I enjoyed reading Growing a Farmer. While it is not a very complex read, it did interest me and make me think. The concept of moving from the city out to a farm is thought and talked about theoretically, but rarely is it done successfully. Reading about this move was intriguing and although the writing was simple, I often found myself reading multiple chapters at a time to see what challenges Timmermeister would face and how he would learn from his mistakes to overcome them. Picking up something new is not easy and takes plenty of perseverance and commitment. Timmermeister does a great job explaining his learning curve in the chapter "The Slaughter." When I buy meat or get a steak at a restaurant, rarely do I think about the process of actually slaughtering the animal. It was fascinating to me how Timmermeister dealt with this dilemma. Initially, he did what most would do, by avoiding it altogether and using the mobile slaughter system. Then, when a sow broke her l...

  Investment Banker Analyst Investment banking is a field that many people have assumptions of, but many are not exactly sure what bankers do. This past summer I worked in Mergers & Acquisitions (companies merging, making an acquisition or selling their company) for an investment bank. After receiving a full-time offer, I will be continuing as a full-time analyst after graduation. Being an “analyst” is commonly associated with crunching numbers. Our job over the summer was mainly to assemble deliverables (using applications such as PowerPoint, Pitch Book or Excel) to help the analysis of our clients’ deals. There are two main categories when it comes to Mergers & Acquisitions: Buyside deals Sellside deals Below I’ll give some examples and characteristics of each kind of deal. Buyside A buyside deal is when one of our clients is attempting to buy another company. It sounds simple, but there are a variety of steps to the pro...

The first thing that stands out to me about "Growing a Farmer" is the manner in which Kurt Timmermeister writes. He keeps things very simple, sets the scene in a way that is easy to understand, and avoids taking the risk of using more complex or lesser known words. On one hand, this makes the book conversational and makes it easier to hear the author's voice. However, I feel like it can be monotonous in instances, as there is not a great deal of variety to the sentence structure or writing style. Also, sometimes his writing can be seen as choppy or lacking flow because of the number of consecutive prepositions he uses. Growing up in an Indiana suburb, I am used to driving through farms for hours. There is a sense of familiarity with farming, but it is not something that has interested me much. I do enjoy reading this book, partially because I seem to speed through chapters and can comprehend what I am reading the first time through. I find it interesting that Timmermeis...

Who I Am Matters Where I come from is a combination of two cities and two distinct ways of life. I was born in Carmel, Indiana, a small suburb outside of Indianapolis. Carmel was home for me until the summer before my junior year in high school, when my family and I moved to New York City. I had a great childhood in the calm, sheltered suburbs. While in Indiana I lived in one house and attended a single school from the age of three onwards. Our move to New York was life-changing to say the least, and it was a huge adjustment for me to become accustomed to the people of the city and the fast-paced environment that is New York. New York is where I matured, and both cities contribute to who I am today. I know where I am going in the near future, however, it is difficult to know where that might lead. I am going back to New York after graduation to work in Mergers & Acquisitions at an investment bank. This should be a great foundation for me to then explore different areas of busi...