The Personal Influence of Globalization

     Whenever I take globalization into account in my life, I usually compare it to oxygen.  Globalization, much like oxygen, is everywhere no matter where we we look and thus we often times take it for granted.  However I've come to appreciate two important aspects of my life in which globalization plays as a huge factor.  Those aspects are music and serving a mission.

       Since childhood I've always surrounded myself with music, specifically classical music.  I would love anything from Bach to Schumann and I yearned to play some of the great works from these composers.  So in fourth grade I learned the viola and in fifth grade I learned the French horn.  I kept up with both till high school where I ultimately decided to stick with the French horn.  I practiced and struggled until finally my senior year I was first chair in the All-State Symphonic Orchestra of New Mexico.  All of that hard work finally paid off as I performed 2 great works that day, one from Glinka and one from Tchaikovsky.  Unfortunately I didn't continue to pursue my musical career but the events leading up to that moment will never be forgotten.  However none of these experiences would have been possible without the effects of globalization.

      First off my fascination with classical music couldn't have taken place without globalization.  Most early works weren't written in America, some were in Austria, others in Germany, France, England and other countries in Europe.  Some were written in obscurer places like Russia, Africa and China.  Although the world wasn't that globalized at the time some of these pieces were written, they were still able to travel across the world, being performed by various orchestras.  This world sharing of music also led to sharing of instruments.  Most instruments associated with classical music are of European design such as the violin, trumpet, French horn and flute that we know today.  However instruments came from many other places such as the tambourine from Russia, the xindi from China, the banjo from America and many others.  Thus my experience of listening to the music and playing the music with certain instruments would have never taken place without the early effects of globalization.  However more recent events of globalization have affected my life especially with my experience of being a missionary.

      I was called to the Brazil, Goiania mission which was very exciting for me.  I served for only one year due to a medical condition but I still had the opportunity to participate in the globalization of the world-wide church.  The amazing thing was that in a different culture and somewhat different practices, the truths and behaviors taught through missionary work were still the same as they are here.  Even though I had to leave the field early, that globalizing experience will set a foundation throughout the rest of my life.