Can you learn machine learning in a year?

This post is for anyone considering a career move into the field of machine learning.

Of course, the answer to the titular question is “it depends”. But what does it depend on, exactly?

Rather than try and give some generic answer to the question that suits no one in particular, I will instead attempt to describe my own experience over the past year in such a way that you can translate my world to yours and answer this question for yourself.