Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 at Villa Colombaia in Florence, Italy, into a very wealthy and well-established British family. Her father, William Nightingale, was a landowner and her mother, Frances Nightingale, was a traditional and obedient housewife. In the time Florence lived, women were uneducated and not expected to do much other than marry young, have children, and take care of their husbands and homes. Nevertheless, Florence was very close to her father when she was a child and he noticed that she was an intelligent child and different from most, so he took responsibility for educating her. He taught her many languages, including French, Italian, Greek, German and Latin. He also taught him mathematics, history and philosophy. During her teenage years, Florence experienced feelings of worthlessness and depression and was very unhappy and dissatisfied with her life. Unlike her mother, Florence rebelled against the traditional role of becoming a wife and had bigger plans in mind. Florence was embarrassed about her life's purpose as an upper-class woman because she was curious about whether she had a responsibility to the poor and what caused poverty. At the age of 17, Florence said she felt a calling from God to embark on a great journey. At age 25, Florence told her parents that she wanted to devote her life to nursing, but her parents were very unhappy with this career choice because it was looked down upon. Finally, in 1851, at the age of 31, Florence's father gave her permission to pursue her dreams and Florence went out into the world and changed the meaning of nursing forever. She traveled to Kaiserwerth, Germany, where she spent two years training to become a nurse at the Institute...... middle of paper ......rsing. That said, and the fact that Miss Nightingale has been such an influential person in nursing, I am inspired to let healthcare challenge me and to never be afraid of the challenges I will face every day. Works Cited Biography of Florence Nightingale. (nd). Retrieved from http://incredible-people.com/biographies/florence-nightingale/Florence Nightingale. (2014). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415020/Florence-Nightingale Knight, J. (2010). Lessons to be learned. Nursing Standard, 24(49), 64. Selanders, LC, & Crane, PC (2012). Florence Nightingale's voice on advocacy. Online Journal of Nursing Issues, 17(1), 1. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No01Man01Simkin, J. (September 1997). Florence Rossignol. Retrieved from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REnightingale.htm