The initiative is designed to aid freshmen and transfer students struggling with the transition to a new life at MSU.

Having problems adjusting to a new lifestyle is a common problem for students, and the FACES website could ease the stress many are feeling.

Making the jump from high school or a small college to MSU is difficult, especially with the idealized image that many people have of college. Students expect to arrive on campus, make tons of friends immediately and excel in all their classes.

While it might be that simple for some students, it is completely normal for things to be a bit more difficult for others. That’s where the FACES website comes in — helping those struggling students understand their issues are common.

Most freshmen experience a freak out at some point during their first year at MSU. Thoughts of dropping out or wondering if MSU is the right place for them can permeate students’ experiences.

By attending MSU, students have to adjust to a completely new lifestyle of living on their own, cooking and cleaning for themselves and not having someone to force them to attend classes. Most of the time, people are trying to learn how to live with a complete stranger, trying to adjust to people from different walks of life and trying to maintain the academic strength that got them into MSU in the first place.

It’s a difficult transition, and some students make it more slowly than others. However, that doesn’t make the anxiety any easier for students to experience or for others to understand.

Students already can use the MSU Counseling Center, but it’s not specifically aimed at the difficulty students have moving on to life at MSU. Although that doesn’t make the Counseling Center a bad place to seek help, this issue is widespread enough on campus to deserve its own website.

With proper exposure, the FACES website could diminish the stigma that comes with asking for help. Sometimes people believe needing someone to talk to is a sign of weakness or reflective of their inability to “fit in” at MSU.

The website could be beneficial in helping students understand that their troubles are common, and asking for help is encouraged.

It also is helpful that the program offers training to other students. If resident mentors and other volunteers are given the training in how to deal with freshmen and transfer students feeling anxiety, it could offer a more comfortable outlet for students, along with someone who might have experienced similar issues only a few years ago.

The website hopefully will give students a helpful alternative to walking over to the MSU Counseling Center, and make them understand that dealing with anxiety is a normal thing when adjusting to MSU’s distinct environment.