Ask HN: How can I jump from front end to C++ or ML?

I've been doing front end contracting work for a number of years now. My last client was truly epic; wonderful people and revenue in the billions but front end couldn't be more soul crushing anymore for me and no other opportunities there AFAIK.

I'd rather be working with objects, data, architecture and optimization. High performance C++ engine work sounds fun; or training and tuning ML models.

I'm considering going to UCSD for CS or Data Science and finding an internship, but maybe that's overkill.