In case the firms really DO Google you...

Hello, dear Recruiting Coordinators of the legal world. After sifting through a few dozen pages about the poet who wrote "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" (Sir Thomas Gray) and the guy who executive produced the old live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies (Thomas K. Gray), you've finally found the blog of Thomas M. Gray III, AKA Thom Gray, rising 2L at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Unlike many of my peers, who delete their web sites, pictures, and any indication that they have any life outside of class, I am actually quite glad you happened upon my little corner of the intertubes. You'll find my Facebook profile equally unaltered for your discerning eyes.

The reason for this is not that I don't take your interest in my personal background seriously. I am not "fighting the man" with this post, or belittling the necessity of a presentable public image for a lawyer at a major firm. No, the reason I haven't change anything about my blog, my Facebook page, my Myspace, or any other public profile I have on the Internet is simple:

I have nothing to hide, and I want you to see that I have nothing to hide.

I have never been photographed in a compromising position while intoxicated. I have never committed some sophomoric prank leading to property damage. I have never worn a Halloween costume mocking a racial group or national tragedy.

The reason is not because of some sense of conformity or social duty. The reason is because I have actual substantive character and morals. I don't act like a child in a man's body, because I am not in a child's body. I don't act like a fool, because I am not foolish, nor do I desire to be foolish.

I may not still agree with everything I have ever said here; certainly my politics (and, frankly, the depth of my interest in politics) has evolved as my education has progressed. But I am proud of my work, and confident that it portrays me as someone who thinks before he speaks, and who both thinks well and speaks well.

And if you think I'm wrong, well, at least you made that decision with as much unfiltered, uncensored information about me as I could possibly give you.

I appreciate your taking the time to check into me on some level beyond my resume and transcript. I feel that the more you do so, the better the chance you will want to hire me both for next summer and in the long term.

Have a nice day.