Shaina Huleatt 1992 –

During her Bruderhof childhood, Shaina says she had “almost no screen time, besides a few movies a year and a few hours here and there watching my father photoshop my mother’s paintings to create greeting cards,” and only learned to use a computer when she was sixteen. After studying law in London and Georgetown, she now works as a lawyer in Woodcrest. 

During my years in London I was fortunate to live in a Bruderhof house in the city with about a dozen other students. I didn’t do social media. None of us in the house did. I didn’t even have a smartphone, and I usually turned my dumbphone off as soon as I got back from classes. 

It could be inconvenient: classmates had to email or call me, when they would have preferred using Facebook messaging. Without Google Maps on my phone, I had to plan ahead – or get lost. But what you sacrifice in terms of convenience can often be regained in real time. Time for games, reading, cooking – we learned to make curry from Indian friends – and singing. 

Sometimes we’d take a guitar to the park; a few times we even sang on the Underground. People looked up from their phones, surprised. Children smiled. A Scrooge or two would move to another car, but most people seemed to enjoy it. Some even joined in.

I now spend most of my working hours in front of a computer. All the more, I value any time I can get away from screens.