Change Majors?

Before I proceed, I just would like to inform that this is a long post.
I’ve been feeling kind of lost and sort of a little bit depressed lately (all this negatives thoughts seems to overwhelm me!). I’ve just ended my first semester of my first year in university and it has not gone too well. I have a feeling that I under perform my exams and I admit that I did not study well enough. Ever since I started school, my concentration in my studies has extremely dropped. Let me lay out 2 major reasons as to why I think this is happening:
1) As my days in school goes by, this one question that keeps popping out is whether the course that I’m currently doing is what I wanted to do in my job field in future. When I was younger, I only thought that I’m only good at this one subject and not others. Thus throughout college and again in uni, I stick to the subject which I thought I do best well in. But now, I really do not know! I really feel lost about myself. This got me to think of whether I should still continue in this course (but there’s a possibility that I may retain although results are not out yet), change to another major (but I don’t what else I can do and i think my marks are not high enough to go to another course!) or even withdraw from school (but I feel it’s kind of a waste to drop out and people keep telling me that it will gives you a better life - better job, higher pay, etc, but is getting a degree all about a better job and higher pay?!!) I no longer know what are my intentions for pursuing a degree!                                                

2) I started realizing ever since I’m in uni, I’ve been skipping my prayers, and thus on Iman low. I’ve been trying to fight against my desires but I guess I’m just not strong enough. Also, you see, I’m not really that happy being a uni student. The reason being is I did not go after in seeking Islamic knowledge as high as how I’ve been seeking knowledge for “dunya courses” (hope you get what I mean). Thus I begin to have this thoughts that why am I studying hard to get dunya knowledge but I’m not improving my Islamic knowledge?! But Alhamdullilah, I’ve just started enrolling myself into an Islamic class to learn more. Then again, my morale is still low.
Thank you for hearing me out, Little Auntie
A Lost Wanderer

Dearest A Lost Wanderer,

awwww, I'm sorry to hear that you've been down, lately. Sometimes, the transition between college and high school isn't as smooth as we expect. It's a different place, with different people, different expectations and rules....You've been used to a system for a long time and suddenly you find yourself in a totally different 'world". It's no surprise then that your grades might not have been as good as they could be...and you admit that you didn't study as well as you should have. 

But alhamdillah, you've done the right thing by analyzing your situation and your feelings.

  Let's try to work on it, together :)

For numero 1 problem:

 I understand that you've kinda always limited yourself to one subject and now you're wondering if you're even in the right major. At the same time, you're not even sure that you have the option to change majors or not....Well, first things first. 

A. Find out what the regulations are at your university/ college to change majors. There's no reason to 'keep wondering if you should change majors' if you're not even allowed to, right. So, go through your university's catalog and by-laws and see what kinds of things are needed in order to change majors. Read also about the possibilities of getting  'a minor'/ 'double major'/ etc .Also, it's very important that you schedule an appointment with your academic advisor and discuss the possibilities of changing majors- seeing what his/her opinion and advice is.  

B. Of course, your academic advisor is probably going to be all "Our major is the BEST. GO US!" So, the next thing you should do is stop by and check your career service center or guidance counselor at your university and see if they can help you decide if you are in the right major. If you do not have such a center in your university (for whatever reason), try taking some online personality tests.

I haven't used these, myself, but I did a quick search and came up with these links:

http://www.careertest.net/

http://www.careerkey.org/ 

http://similarminds.com/career.html

Analyze those results. Consider the working hours, pay, etc. that are most likely to be the result of working a certain career. Check the current job market. (If you do want to "work" and not stay at home). Think about your long term goals...What is is that you want to be doing 10 years from now? What do you NOT want to be doing? Try to even talk to people who are working at your current chosen career. Like if you know any people who have graduated from the degree that you are currently studying-- what do they think? 

Think about those things and also:

What can be a hobby? What do you need teachers to actually teach you and what can you learn on your own? What would you like to take a course about in your free time and what do you actually want to study and be tested on?

C. Once you've established the list of possible 'careers'/ other majors that might interest you, try seeing the possibility of attending a class or two of the other majors. See how it goes. Get in touch with students who are in the other classes and ask them about their opinions. Look at their textbooks, tuition, etc. 

D. If you find yourself still confused, try to make sure that you finish university requirements ...and take this semester as an opportunity to decide what it is that you want to do. For example, my older sis changed her major twice, but alhamdilllah, because she had worked on university requirements, she ended up graduating only a semester late. (University requirements are the things that ALL students, regardless of their degree, have to finish.) 

For your second problem:

2. Sis, you're stuck in a small cycle. You're wondering why you're caring so much about the dunya and not the deen- you're upset that you didn't pursue Islamic studies- yet, somehow you find yourself delaying and skipping your prayers.

Hunny, a great scholar once said: "The knowledgeable one remains ignorant about what he knows about until he acts upon it." 

Your salah is your connection with Allah subhanoo Wa' TAla. Think about it. There is no excuse for skipping a prayer. Did you know that there is no kafarah (no way to expiate) a skipped prayer that is deliberately missed? You can never make it up again. See here.

I don't usually take the hard approach, but I have to be straight about this. A missed prayer is not acceptable. It means that you are saying something is more important to you than Allah....

Instead, if you're feeling an imaan low, it's even more important to pray....Ask a friend to be a prayer buddy and to help encourage you. Listen to some lectures on salah. Be honest with your parents, too, and tell them you need some help praying on time. 

As for 'feeling bad that you didn't pursue Islamic studies, well, sweetie, you've done the right thing now by joining an Islamic class. You can also read at least 5-10 pages of Quran daily, try to listen to one lecture a week, read an Islamic book once a week, learn a new hadith, etc. You CAN also consider enrolling in an Islamic university online , or think about taking courses once you are done with your degree. 

And remember, that your sincere intentions can turn every day actions into worship to be rewarded for in the Hereafter. When you come to eat, say Bismillah. Thank Allah for the food He has given you. When you wake up, say the daily adkhar. If we sleep early for example so that we can wake up to pray the dawn prayer (fajr), our sleep would be considered worship. The whole time we’re sleeping, we are actually worshipping Him and ‘gaining good deeds’. Once you start implementing these small actions, you'll find that you are making your dunya as a means for your aakhirah. We don't have to totally renounce the dunya, but we should remember that it's a temporary place meant to be 

Please also read these two posts; 

http://dearlittleauntie.blogspot.com/2011/03/down-in-dumps.html

http://dearlittleauntie.blogspot.com/2010/12/fed-up-of-roller-coaster-ride.html

InshaAllah the other sisters can also add their input <3