It is very freeing to realize there is no One True Path. If you thought becoming an academic was The Only Way, and it doesn't happen, you either live a miserable life or overcome this failure and progress forwards.

I think "Fuck the Bread" is the realization that something the author desired so hard, and tried so many times to get, ultimately does not determine her path in life and her mental state of being.

I would further say that there is an unhealthy way of viewing life currently in vogue where everything is "systemic" - you can't possible overcome issue XYZ because of systemic reasons ABC that are out of your control. So... why bother?

But all of that is a psychological trick - life is what you make of it. If you aren't happy, no one is going to make you happy but yourself. This is simplified as the "bootstraps" vision of the world, and obviously helping people and receiving help is important (no man is an island), but true happiness can only come from yourself and living life the way you choose. When you stop giving a fuck about what other people think and start living the way you want, is when you truly become free and actualized as an individual.