Last month, when schools were shutting down and internships were vanishing, a small group of veteran journalists put out the message to young scribes: Show us what you've got!

The contest was free. No one made a dime. The judges expected a couple of dozen entries. They got 409.

They came from high schools, from colleges, from graduate programs, from Africa, from France, from Israel.

They wrote. The judges read. Now, from 409, they've whittled the list to ten. Meet the The Big Scribble finalists:

--Kaia Hubbard, University of San Diego

--Nick Kelly, University of Missouri

--Joe Levin, University of Texas

--Samantha Port, Pine Crest School (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

--Kate Smith, Creighton University

--Hannah Towey, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

--Amin Touri, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

--Leah Vann, Northwestern University

--Atreya Verma, Purdue University

--Zeke Warren-Weigmann, St. Olaf College

They've written profiles, feature stories, obits, and food reviews. Now, the Scribblers have one more assignment. Here it is:

We’re living in a strange moment in which we risk illness every time we interact with other humans. What can we do to show affection? How can we compensate for the loss of so much human contact? Write a column of 800 words or less on this subject, one that might appear on the oped page or in the Style section of The New York Times.
We’re giving you a lot of freedom on this.You can write about yourself (but you don’t have to).You can write about someone who presents a solution or offers an example.You can write about religion, pets, hugs, drugs, TV shows, music, friendship, history, politics… There are no end to the possibilities. But you must connect it to the theme: How do we compensate when our ability to show affection is restricted?
We know this is a difficult one. But we also know you're up to the challenge.
Some free advice:

Read the OpEd page and Style section. Understand the difference between a column and a term paper.

Make it a story, not a sermon.

If you write about yourself, be sure to remember that it should be in the service of a solid and clearly expressed idea. As much as we like you all, we’re not that interested in your personal lives.

Watch the Big Scribble Twitter feed because we’re going to be giving out advice from experts, and they’re going to discuss this assignment specifically.

Deadline for entry has passed. No new entries. Questions? Write: thebigscribble@mail.com