What's The Best Path To Becoming A Data Scientist?

How can I become a data scientist? A quick search yields a plethora of possible resources that could help -- MOOCs, blogs, Quora answers to this exact question, books, Master's programs, bootcamps, self-directed curricula, articles, forums and podcasts. Their quality is highly variable; some are excellent resources and programs, some are click-bait laundry lists. Since this is a relatively new role and there's no universal agreement on what a data scientist does, it's difficult for a beginner to know where to start, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Many of these resources follow a common pattern: 1) Here are the skills you need and 2) Here is where you learn each of these.