I have two problems: I want to become a physicist. By that I mean, I want to be able to:

1. Look at raw data/reality
2. Notice categories and types of phenomenon
3. Create metrics for them
4. Create models that reproduce those metrics

My second problem is that I need to become some kind of research assistant, because if I'm going to pursue my goal, I might as well pay for expenses while I do it. Now I have an M.Sc. in Mathematics, but it seems that every research program wants someone who's been going from olympiad to olympiad from middle school to graduate. That kind of competitiveness is simply unfair.