We’re looking for a few new voices. Maybe yours? The New York Times is inviting college students nationwide to write an essay that tells the plain truth about what love and relationships are like for them today. In previous contests, which attracted thousands of entries from students at hundreds of colleges and universities, the winning essays explored ambivalence about hooking up, technology’s effects on the ways we find and lose love, how an aversion to labels can impact relationships, and the challenges of navigating one’s gender identity.
To enter, send one essay (1,500-1,700 words) to essaycontest@nytimes.com, both attaching it as a Word document and pasting it into the body of the email. Include your name, college and anticipated year of graduation. Stories must be true and previously unpublished. You may not change names or details. The essays below demonstrate a good range of how others have done this well.
The deadline for submissions is March 24, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
The winning essay will be published in a special Modern Love column in early May, and its author will receive $1,000. Finalists’ essays may also be published. For updates, follow Modern Love on Facebook. On Twitter, follow the Modern Love editor and projects assistant. Good luck!
See previous contest essays and the entire Modern Love collection.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES (D.C.) 18 YEARS AND OLDER WHO ARE CURRENT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN AN AMERICAN COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Contest ends March 24, 2019. For Official Rules, prize descriptions, terms and conditions and odds disclosure, click here. Sponsor: The New York Times Company, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, N.Y., 10018.
