MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — From when she was a little girl, Rima Avellan always wanted to be a doctor.

Now, at 52 years old, the Miami-Dade mother of three is about to graduate from medical school and begin her path to becoming a physician.

“It’s never too late,” Avellan said. “I don’t care how old I am, I’m just gonna do it. You know you live once.”

A Canadian immigrant born to Lebanese parents, Avellan began her career as a physical therapist and later an instructor at a women-only boot camp in southwest Miami-Dade, where she still owns a fitness studio today.

Signs inside her studio reading “Your only limit is you” and “Willpower knows no limits” reflect her determination to achieve her goals.

“That was in my head. And I thought about it every single day for many years,” she said, referring to encouragement from her father-in-law to become a doctor.

Avellan went back to college in her 40s at Florida International University, becoming the first in her family to earn a degree. She was later accepted into FIU’s medical school.

Next week, she is set to graduate, becoming one of the few students to complete medical school after age 50. She will begin a pathology residency at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in July.

“To know that you’re going to be a doctor, how does that make you feel?” she was asked by Local 10’s Byron Tollefson.

“I get goosebumps thinking about it,” she replied.

Avellan said she could not have done it without her support system, especially her husband, Marcos.

As she prepares to walk across the stage, she hopes her journey inspires others to pursue their dreams at any age.

“Sometimes you’re not satisfied where you are in life and you just settle because you think you’re too old to do anything else,” she said. “Hopefully I can be that inspiration for people to say, ‘You know what, life’s too short, it’s never too late.’”

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