As a self-confessed talkaholic, it’s difficult for City of Bath College student Jasmin El-hag to keep quiet for just 10 minutes.
So imagine the extent of the challenge she is currently facing as she undergoes a sponsored silence for the entire week.
The 18-year-old student has vowed not to utter a word for seven days and will instead carry around a white board to write down what she wants to say to friends and family.
She knows it will not be easy, but she also realises that the longer she vows to keep quiet, the more money people will give to charity.
Jasmin, who is studying a Level 3 National Diploma in Childcare, is trying to raise as much money as possible for the Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of a school friend who died of leukaemia three years ago.
Just hours before saying her last words for a week, Jasmin said: “I love talking, I’m always chatting and I do like gossiping. My friends would say I never shut up, and if I’m not speaking, I am usually singing.
“I’m quite excited about staying quiet for a week, but I really don’t know how I will cope.
“I think I will be using my white board all the time, I’ll have to use it whenever someone asks me a question.”
She is planning a quiet week where she will swap social and sporting events for nights in in front of the TV.
Jasmin, who lives in South Gloucestershire, thinks the greatest challenge will be her time at college, especially break times when her friends will try to talk to her. She also has to carry out her usual two-day work placement at a children’s nursery.
She said: “Knowing I wasn’t going to speak for a week, I made up for it at the weekend by talking as much as I could.
“I spent a lot of time with friends chatting away, trying to get everything out my system.”
She added: “People think I’m not going to be able to see this through but I will show them. I am confident I can do this, it’s for charity so it’s important to me.”
The Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for the six 13 to 24-year-olds who are diagnosed with cancer every day.
To sponsor Jasmin El-hag for her seven-day silence, go to her fundraising page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JasminElhag
