Darlene was never expected to go to University. Hell, she didn't even finish high school. It's hard to judge her for that considering she had an alcoholic parent and untreated ADHD. It's hard to have any real direction when your priority is surviving. 

She eventually found her passion though, and through that, a direction. She went to University. She got a degree in something meaningful to her. She was - and is - a success, as well as a Decent Fucking Human. Her fucked up story starts after getting into a Master's program she'd wanted to attend for years, and ends with her filing a human rights complaint against a professor who held a lot of power of her future.