Modern Love - a contest
In the spirit of the love month, I thought I should share with you this article that I found from The New York Times.
"Three years ago we invited college students to tell us the truth about what love was like for them in this age of 24/7 communication, blurred gender roles and new attitudes about sex and dating. The response, from students at more than 365 colleges and universities nationwide, was overwhelming and eye opening."
Just before Valentine’s Day this year, Sunday Styles did something very unromantic: we asked college students nationwide to tell the plain truth about what love is like for them. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we thought we wouldn’t receive many essays about red roses and white tablecloths.
When the contest deadline passed seven weeks later, more than 1,200 essays had arrived, from 365 schools in 46 states and Puerto Rico. In perhaps typical collegiate fashion, nearly 700 poured in on the last day, 400 over the final hour. We counted only three red roses among them, and one was bestowed in a laundry room.
As for the more complicated stuff, and the uniquely 21st century struggles — those we got by the hundreds, covering everything from how students view communications technology (as a lifeline, a crutch or a scourge) to their ambivalence about the no-strings-attached sexual opportunism of the hookup culture.
The following are the finalists' essays from our last college contest:
Winner:
— "Want to Be My Boyfriend? Please Define" by Marguerite Fields, Marlboro College
Runners up:
— "May I Have This Dance?" by Owen Powell, American Military University
— "Instant Message, Instant Girlfriend" by Roger Hobbs, Reed College
— "My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In," by Lee Conell, SUNY – New Paltz
— "Let's Not Get to Know Each Other Better," by Joel Walkowski, USC
To view these entries, here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/marketing/modernlove/?ref=style
Personally, I liked Owen Powell's entry the best. I think he captured LOVE in its most basic essence. Afterall, like any ordinary being, we cling to love or whatever idea we have of it when we've got nothing else. And dreams...dreams for me are the most wonderful human creation. We can be anything in our dreams.
"Three years ago we invited college students to tell us the truth about what love was like for them in this age of 24/7 communication, blurred gender roles and new attitudes about sex and dating. The response, from students at more than 365 colleges and universities nationwide, was overwhelming and eye opening."
Just before Valentine’s Day this year, Sunday Styles did something very unromantic: we asked college students nationwide to tell the plain truth about what love is like for them. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we thought we wouldn’t receive many essays about red roses and white tablecloths.
When the contest deadline passed seven weeks later, more than 1,200 essays had arrived, from 365 schools in 46 states and Puerto Rico. In perhaps typical collegiate fashion, nearly 700 poured in on the last day, 400 over the final hour. We counted only three red roses among them, and one was bestowed in a laundry room.
As for the more complicated stuff, and the uniquely 21st century struggles — those we got by the hundreds, covering everything from how students view communications technology (as a lifeline, a crutch or a scourge) to their ambivalence about the no-strings-attached sexual opportunism of the hookup culture.
The following are the finalists' essays from our last college contest:
Winner:
— "Want to Be My Boyfriend? Please Define" by Marguerite Fields, Marlboro College
Runners up:
— "May I Have This Dance?" by Owen Powell, American Military University
— "Instant Message, Instant Girlfriend" by Roger Hobbs, Reed College
— "My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In," by Lee Conell, SUNY – New Paltz
— "Let's Not Get to Know Each Other Better," by Joel Walkowski, USC
To view these entries, here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/marketing/modernlove/?ref=style
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