Parents of College Students....Tell Your Aspiring Writer About This!

I admit it.. when I pick up the Sunday New York Times I go directly to the Style section. I save the hard news for later. To me, there's nothing more relaxing than the Style Section and a nice cup of coffee on a Sunday morning. First I read the really important stuff (fashion and beauty news, wedding announcements, restaurant reviews and celebrity gossip) and I save the Modern Love column for last. Like its name suggests, the Modern Love column features stories about what love means in this day and age, whether it's between parent and child, lovers or friends.

Now the New York Times is running an essay contest for college students. They want to know what love means to young adults. If your college-aged son/daughter has a knack for the written word and an interesting story to tell about love, why not let them know about this contest. The winner's essay will run on in the New York Times on May 4th and they'll win $1,000. Plus, they'll be featured on MTV and MTV.com.

The deadline is March 31 which probably sounds really close to all of us, but if I recall my college procrastination issues correctly, this is plenty of time in their world.

For rules and to see examples of previous Modern Love columns, visit www.nytimes.com/ads/marketing/modernlove/