How to Train Your Voice for Competitions

How to Train Your Voice for Competitions Megan L. Whatever your views may be on singing competitions, they are a scary but helpful rung on the ladder to the next level of understanding how to train your voice. And whether youre participating in a local festival, trying your luck on a television show, or participating in a major international competition, the rules for preparation and how you conduct yourself are pretty much the same. Types of Competition Local festivals These can be an excellent first stage for aspiring singers and their teachers to check not only on their personal progress, but on their progress in relation to others at a similar level. When considering how to train your voice for local festivals, make careful note of any set pieces that you may have to learn, and talk to others who have participated in past years. Television shows With the rise of shows like American Idol and Americas Got Talent, it can be very tempting to throw your hat into the ring and try your skills in front of a celebrity panel. However, be warned: television talent shows are as much about what makes good television as they are about talented participants. If you have a thick skin and can manage your nerves, go ahead. Otherwise, perhaps investigate smaller, local competitions instead. Auditions Although not strictly competitions, auditions can become a more rewarding experience if you view them as such. You may find that how to train your voice for auditions is different compared to how to train your voice for competitions. You may, for example, have more freedom with repertoire, or be auditioning for a specific part. Successful auditions arent necessarily always ones where you get the job, either winning an audition is best viewed as one where everything with regard to your preparation went right, and you sang as well as you could for your current stage of development. College and other competitions If youre following a classical training path, you will almost certainly have to take part in competitions while at college, both internally and externally. You may have to prepare specific arias, and panels will be paying close attention to your stage presence and use of language as well as your singing. How to Prepare You may have heard the Five Ps Rule in relation to studying for exams, but it also rings true when preparing for competitions: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Here are some pointers that will help with proper preparation: Never enter a competition without asking your teacher Youve put your trust in a professional to know best how to train your voice, so making decisions about your level of vocal development and how to measure it should be run by them first. Consult your teacher and vocal coaches about what repertoire to sing Popular repertoire for competitions is popular for a reason, but does it show you off well? The right aria for you is the best thing to sing, not the crowd-pleaser that you cant quite manage, and certainly not under pressure. Dont be too clever Having said that, be wary of choosing anything too obscure. If any part of the final judging is audience-led, you may find that something completely unfamiliar loses their interest, and therefore their vote for you. Tackle your nerves (if you have them) Performance nerves arent necessarily a bad thing, so dont view them as the enemy. Learn to work with them; analyze how your nerves affect you, and work through every step of your physical fight-or-flight response with practical solutions. For example, if you feel slightly sick, carbonated water may help. Work closely with an instructor you trust and who will give you the confidence you need to succeed, and youll feel much more comfortable heading to that competition. Good luck! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by U.S. Army

Where Guitar Picks Really Go When You Lose Them

Where Guitar Picks Really Go When You Lose Them Sign up successful Check in your couch and youll certainly find a guitar pick or two, a handful of change, and a long-lost remote control. 2. Check your dryer. Step one: leave a pick in your pocket. Step two: forget to empty your pockets before you do your laundry. Step three: check your dryer, because it is now full of guitar picks. 3. It joined a colony under the furniture. Guitar picks like it under your furniture. It makes sense its dark down there and they can live relatively undisturbed until you move. 4. Your cat took it. If youve got a pet in the house, chances are theyve gotten their paws mixed up in something to do with your guitar. Cats especially like guitar picks because they are small, fun to bat at, and most importantly, you need them. 5. It grew legs and walked away. Sometimes this is the only possibility that makes sense. 6. You dropped it in the soundhole, didnt you? Have fun trying to shake it out! If youre feeling adventurous, you can fish your guitar pick out of your soundhole by affixing a piece of double-sided tape to the end of a stick or pen. 7. It was picked up by a gnome. Mischievous pick gnomes have been the bane of guitar players on the Internet since this Ultimate Guitar forum post back in 2007. Apparently these small magical creatures are consumed with the desire to steal guitar picks and they will stop at nothing to do it. If gnomes are at the root of your trouble, you can publicly express your frustration and take a stand against the gnomes by liking I Hate Pick Gnomes on Facebook. 8. Did you check your pockets? Your pockets are a perfect hiding place on the way to the dryer, the couch cushions, or worse. You can keep picks safe by checking your pockets! 9. It is taking a year off to find itself. This is a big problem, especially among millenials. Picks these days! 10. It is hiding under the rug. No one knows how picks get under rugs. Somehow, they just do. 11. It was a time-traveler from 1985. Dont grieve. It will be happier back in its own time. Besides, you dont need a time-traveler hanging around your house, messing with the time space continuum. 12. It fell in love with a sock and ran away. Socks and guitar picks are basically the peanut butter and jelly of lost objects. Since both disappear with alarming frequency, it makes sense that they would occasionally run off together. 13. You sat on it. It is stuck to the back of your leg. The calls are coming from inside the house!! Now that youve found your guitar picks, maybe youd like to sharpen your skills by studying with a private guitar teacher. Search for your guitar teacher now! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

The American Job Market

The American Job Market Current college seniors (2010 graduating class) are finding it much easier to land jobs than the preceding 2009 class, according to an article in the New York Times. 2009 was one of the worst job-seeking years in history for college seniors. However, the National Association of Colleges and Employers recently reported that 5 percent more college seniors are finding jobs in 2010, compared to 2009. Employers are looking for accounting, engineering, computing and mathematics majors, according to Edwin Koc, research director of the association. These positions are currently in the highest demand. Koc added that communication and writing skills, analytic ability and teamwork are also necessary factors for most jobs. Most hiring and college administration experts agree that graduating students need to be able to create a linear connection between their major and a potential job. Some college majors especially liberal arts majors do not have clear career paths that begin immediately after college. Therefore, these students need to be able to mold their degrees and learning experiences to fit available job descriptions. This is especially important in tougher job markets. Some experts believe that the current economic climate could actually help some recent college graduates chances of landing jobs. Employers are beginning to prepare for a strong economic comeback; however, money is still extremely tight. Some of these employers are filling these positions with recent college graduates because they are significantly less expensive than veteran workers. Recent college graduates have other advantages as well. Most of the new jobs that are currently being created in America rely heavily on technology and the Web. Many experts and employers believe that younger people are more proficient in these categories. The job market is expected to increase steadily, making it easier for recent college graduates to find jobs straight-out-of-college. Most economic experts believe that the workforce will continue to grow as the American economy rises out of the recent economic recession.

How To Prep For AP Exams

How To Prep For AP Exams Over the next two weeks, close to 2 million students will be taking the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Covering subjects ranging from Art History to Macroeconomics to Statistics, AP exams (and their corresponding AP classes) give high school students opportunities to take rigorous classes while earning college credit by successfully passing the exams. Here are some pointers to help you get through the next two weeks of grueling exams: 1. Read over the official Course Description booklets The College Board has course booklets for each of its AP exams. Browsing over the course booklet is a great way to ensure that your AP class teacher or your prep books have not missed any big topics that the college board has designated as part of the AP exam. The booklets also outline rules for each exam, such as the policies for calulator use on the mathematics AP exams (calculators with QWERTY keyboards are not allowed). See the Calculus AB Course Description as an example of the great information that is provided for each AP exam. 2. Get enough sleep and be mentally prepapred AP exams take up half a day, and you have to be able to sit down and focus for 3 to 4 hours. If you're scheduled to take two exams on the same day, such as U.S. History in the morning followed by European History in the afternoon, it is even more important to be well-rested for the full day's worth of testing. Avoid caffeine late at night if you know drinking coffee or tea makes you restless. Wear comfortable clothing for the exams, as you won't be allowed to leave your testing room. It's already a challenge trying to remember all the antiderivatives and limit rules for that Calculus AB exam, so keep all distractions to a minimum. The exams rated the hardest are often U.S. History, Physics, and Spanish, so be very well prepared if you are taking any of those three tests. 3. Bring your supplies The AP exams' multiple choice sections require you to bubble in answers on a scantron, so have plenty of pencils on hand! For the free-response sections, bring pens as well, so your writing can be clear and easy to read. Legibility may not be part of the official grading rubric, but you still want to make it as easy as possible for your graders to read that essay you sweated over. Lastly, bring a watch to wear or to simply put on your desk. You may not be familiar with your testing room's layout (clock? no clock?), and being able to keep track of time will help your pacing through each section. Once a section is finished, you are not allowed to go back, so giving each question a serious attempt is important. More than 90% of the colleges across the nation have some sort of AP policy, granting credit and/or class placement to students who achieve designated scores on AP exams. This could mean fewer classes you have to take in college, resulting in thousands of dollars saved.

8 Items to Bring to Your Dorm Room

8 Items to Bring to Your Dorm Room With all the excitement of moving off to college, it is no surprise that items on your to-do list may get overlooked in the midst of the insanity. There are certain areas, however, where you really do not want this happen, such as buying and packing up specific items for your dorm room. The fact that dorms provide minimal space for students often leads to a lack of over-packing. This is certainly a good practice but at the same time, it is vital that you do not write off the thought that goes into packing completely. You may also want to check out this information on how to adjust to dorm lifeas well. You will be provided with a twin bed, a desk, and a closet/dresser combination of some sort. its the hundreds of extra things you have to think about. Decorative objects, practical objects, forms of entertainment; there is no stopping this train of thought. Save yourself major stress and time by first checking off some key items that you most definitely do not want to forget. Comfortable Form of Seating: Everybody knows to bring a futon and/or large plushy chair, but you should really put some extra time into this particular shopping effort. While you may just want to get the pre-college errands over with and settle for the same Target futon everyone else gets, its important to seriously get a feel for how comfortable this form of seating is. Keep in mind that this will be the only place for you to sit down and relax other than your bed, which may be lofted and inconvenient to get to at a moments notice. Youll be kicking yourself later if the only seating you own is awkward and uncomfortable. For instance, a giant bean bag chair may seem cool at first, but its lack of back support may bother you as time goes on. Avoid future frustration and just think about all aspects of this furniture beforehand. Here is some great tips tip help you fear not the dorm! Headphones: When you are in this kind of close quarters with a roommate, you are bound to need some peace every now and then. The two of you are not always going to be on the same schedule, meaning sometimes when theyll want nothing but to watch TV after a long day, youll have a huge paper due in the morning that youll need to stay up late working on. You wont always have the energy to change locale and head to the library, so a pair of headphones to drown out the noise might be just what you need. Dont always rely on the small, delicate headphones you probably use for your iPod. A larger and more powerful set might be more useful for this purpose. Desk Lamp: Going off of the point that you and your roommate will not always be on the same schedule, one of you might want to go to sleep early while the other is determined to stay up and get some homework done. This is where a small and flexible desk lamp comes in handy. Its easy to forget about since were used to having rooms to ourselves and turning the overhead lights on or off as we please, but this item is likely to be used fairly often in this sort of co-habitation. Multiple Power Strips: You can never have too many of these. First off, youll have no idea how many outlets will be engraved in the dorm walls nor will you be able to control where they are. They arent always placed conveniently amongst your furniture set-up, and there certainly arent always enough especially for both you and your roommate. Power strips will eliminate that annoyance and also give you the freedom to charge items like your computer and phone wherever you like, rather than being confined to one spot. This will also eliminate the need to choose between various electronics at one time. Shower Caddy: This item is more for your dorm life rather than your dorm room, but it is still just as important. Unless you are one of those lucky students who lands a dorm suite that includes a bathroom to share with a few other roommates, you will be forced to make a trip down the hall to the community bathroom every time you intend to take a shower. Having a caddy that is easy to transport and that has no problem holding all of your shower items in an organized fashion is so important. You certainly dont want showering to be a chore by having to reassemble your accessories every time; make the trip down the hall as little of an inconvenience as possible. TV and DVD Player: This shouldnt need much explanation and is most likely near the top of your list anyway but it is worth mentioning. Make sure you coordinate with your roommate about this beforehand so you dont end up with two televisions you dont have room for. Additionally, make sure it is a TV that will fit adequately and that works well. You dont want to be the one student on the dorm floor that can only watch their DVDs on their computer or after begging a neighbor to lend their TV and dorm space for a viewing. Mini Fridge and Microwave: These are additional items that you definitely want to make sure you communicate with your roommate about before move-in day. Although you wont be doing much cooking in your dorm, it is very comforting to have these contraptions around for storing sodas and heating up Easy Mac. You dont want to have to rely on the cafeteria and fast food take-out alone for your calorie intake. Plus, abnormal college schedules mean youll get hungry at the oddest of times, so having snacks on hand is a big reassurance. You may want to also check out this info on the anatomy of a college dorm roomto help you prepare yourself! Extra Shelving/Storage Crates: You never know when youre going to run out of room to store things, so it is the safe thing to do to have these units available. Most of these are easy to fold up and put away if not needed, so dont worry about them unnecessarily taking up space that exact problem is what you are going to avoid by having these items.

SAT Help is a Smart Investment for Students

SAT Help is a Smart Investment for Students SAT Help is a Smart Investment for Students This not an ordinary fall for either you or your child. The SAT looms and you know your child needs all the support they can get to get ready. SAT scores can play a very important role in the college admissions process, but most parents do not know what exactly the SAT entails. What skills does the SAT emphasize? How much geometry and algebra are on the SAT? Does my child need a geometry tutor to be as prepared and confident as possible? Students often describe preparing for the SAT as one of the most stressful and anxious periods of their teen years; they know that this one test can have a big impact on whether or not they can get into the college of their choice. When students try and prepare for a test that they are not familiar with, stress and anxiety can get worse. Why leave them to navigate the minefield of SAT prep when there are professional experts and respected organizations that specialize in helping students with this specific test? Don't leave SAT prep to chance. Don't simply buy your child an SAT prep book and hope that it's enough. Find the professional assistance that is available to you and relieve fears that can damage confidence and scores. When you invest in a professional and reputable tutoring service, you can ensure that your child will get the help they need, both in terms of subject matter and test-taking strategy. This extra assistance will dramatically boost your childs confidence and allay fears heading into test day. Through one-on-one instruction, your child can discover his or her strengths and weaknesses and get the help needed to overcome possible deficiencies. If, for instance, geometry is not your child's strong suit, the tutor can provide constructive and tailored lessons on the subject that will enable your child to learn key concepts and even expand upon them. By the time he or she takes the test, your child should be confident in his or her abilities and ready and able to demonstrate new skills. Beyond understanding and practicing the specific skills demanded during the SAT, the mental edge provided by professional tutoring services cannot be overstated. Study after study reveals that test scores are suppressed by stress and anxiety. Practice with a professional tutor sharpens skills, provides familiarity with the test format, and shows your child how hard work and preparation can influence a more successful outcome.

Why Reading is Important 14 Ways Reading Helps Your Life - Private Tutoring

Why Reading is Important 14 Ways Reading Helps Your Life Anna L Dec 3, 2018 Find a Top Rated Reading Tutor Near You! It's Simple and Secure - Get Real Results Fast. Find Expert Private Tutors at Reasonable Rates Today! InPerson or Online Online InPerson Why reading is important is a question most parents have heard from kids or even their partners. You’ve probably heard it a hundred times or more â€" read, it’s good for you! But does anyone actually answer your question of ‘why reading is good for you?’ The good news is that simply by reading this article, you are beginning to understand what reading can do for you. Our goal here is to help you understand why reading is good for your health, what reading can do for you as well as the scientific benefits of it. Reading Benefits: Scientific Benefits of Reading The scientific benefits of reading are becoming more and more known, here are some of the top scientific explanations as to why you should pick up that book! Boost brain power â€" in the same way that going for a run improves your cardiovascular fitness, reading will help enhance your memory and brain function. As we get older, both these functions tend to decline. Regular reading can significantly delay this decline as well as helping to prevent the onset of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Reading helps your mental sharpness to stick around a little longer, much more so than watching a movie! Reducing stress â€" immersing yourself with a good page-turner can help switch off from the pressures of day-to-day life. Research suggest that even reading a book for a mere six minutes after a stressful day is a great way to relax and recharge the batteries, even more so than listening to music â€" another favorable stress-busting technique. Try reading for a few minutes each day, or on your commute to work (providing your not driving of course!) Improves empathy â€" understanding others will lead to positive and long-lasting relationships. Engaging with literary characters can help the brain make connections that help the reader understand other points of view and help with recognizing emotions. Just like athletes use visualization techniques to improve muscle memory to enhance their sporting performance, reading novels can help brain connectivity. Why Reading is Good for Your Health While many of us understand that reading might have benefits on our mind as well as our memories (and thats critical the older we get), understanding our it might help our overall health is not quite as well known.   Heres just a few reasons to consider reading more: Increases motivation â€" people who read books about people doing things, fact or fiction, are more likely to engage in the activity themselves. This could be drastic and crazy such as climbing mountains or taking on large travel adventures, or simple like taking up a new hobby such as cooking or knitting. Can combat poor mental health â€" improving mental health often goes hand in hand with reducing stress, but reading about others in similar situations is useful too. Biographies are great way to understand that you are not alone in your battle, and the large number of self-help books allows people to access advice and guidance from the comfort of their own home without stigma or embarrassment. Naturally, professional medical advice should also be sought. Independent thinking â€" characters and plots are often portrayed in ways to sway our thinking. Authors usually deliberately make characters likable or loathed, but every so often we come across a book that makes us think outside the typical box. You may like the story, but not the characters, or vice-versa. This highlights our individuality and makes for great conversation when discussing a book with others. Armchair education â€" reading biographies and other factual or historical books will provide an abundance of knowledge. Even reading articles such as this one will teach you something. However, even fictional books based around true events or set in specific historical periods will captivate us even more and we learn without even realizing it! Old School Paper Books vs Modern Day e-Readers E-readers are becoming more and more popular, and don’t get me wrong, they are great! They have the capacity to store large numbers of books on a small device which is great when traveling or commuting. But there is something special about turning the paper pages of a book. The good news is that many e-reader owners still love a printed book, and here are some reasons why this should continue; Sleep better â€" including reading as part of a bedtime routine can help signal to your body that the time for sleep is near. However, using an e-reader can actually wake the brain up courtesy of the backlit screen. Reading a printed book by a lamp is a much better way to slow the body down and prepare for a good night’s rest. Plus it aids in all the other ways that we’re covering here. Improves memory function â€" turning pages will actually help you remember what you have read more so than ‘clicking’ to the next page. Many people may find this is the reason they print important documents rather than reading them off a computer screen. Books also allow for easier flicking back and forth to help remember important events or characters. How Does Reading Make You Smarter? Reading is beneficial at any age, but like most things, the earlier you start the better. Not only does it help form positive habits, but it may also make you smarter â€" something that will help significantly with your education. Some of the benefits of reading for students and young people include; Reading can help children develop a longer attention span, and when it comes to schooling this one has obvious benefits. Because stories have a structure that includes and beginning, middle and end, children are captivated for a fairly lengthy amount of time. Exposure to vocabulary â€" reading exposes students to around 50% more words than television or even conversation. As children, and adults for that matter, read they come across new words regularly. These new words then tend to be used in conversation and writing. Using a larger array of words will make you not only sound more intelligent, but you will generally be more intelligent. In the case of students, those that have a larger vocabulary are more likely to gain attention from their teachers which can improve confidence and promote further learning. Improved reading comprehension, spelling, grammar is seen in those children who read for fun. Creating a love and habit for reading at an early age has a profoundly positive impact on education. Exposure through story time, following parental leads and positive encouragement, are all ways to promote reading. Developing the imagination and creativity. Children who read do not necessarily go on to be writers, journalists or editors. The creative part of the brain is wide.y used when students read â€" they imagine themselves in the story line. Creativity is the key to success in many careers, and so much of it can be gained from reading! Reading provides entertainment you can take anywhere! Books, especially those developed for children are often small and portable. E-readers are even more compact and can store thousands of stories. Whether a child is camping, waiting for the bus, eating a snack or preparing for bed â€" reading can be done virtually anywhere, any time! No more “I’m bored” statements! Find a Reading Tutor Near You! Hopefully you’ve got a few ideas of why reading is important and what reading can do for you at this point?   If so, then the goal of our post was successful!   And if you need help with reading this year or if you are prepping for the SAT Reading test and want to improve your skills for life as well as a big test, then we can help with that!     Whatever the case, the next time you get a few minutes, find yourself a good book on any topic and get started reading! We can help you find the best private tutor near you! It’s simple and secure â€" Get real results fast. Your first hour with any tutor is protected by our Good Fit Guarantee: You don't pay for tutoring unless you find a good fit. Choose Your Subject â€" Add Your Zip Code â€" Find Top Rated Tutors Starting Today! InPerson or Online Online InPerson

2016 Presidential Candidates Whos Who Republican Edition

2016 Presidential Candidates Who's Who Republican Edition Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey 1. Jeb Bush. Former governor of Florida (1999-2007). *Stance on LGBT Rights: now believes people should show respect for gay people in committed relationships. *Stance on Abortion: thinks abortions should only be legal in cases of rape, incest, or if mothers life is in danger. *Stance on Gun Control: favors right to bear arms. 2. Ben Carson. Retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon who is known for being the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins who were connected at the head. In his closing remarks at the first GOP debate, he  delivered this great zinger: Im the only one to separate Siamese twins, the only one to operate on babies while they are still in their mothers womb and the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it. *Stance on LGBT Rights:  believes marriage should be between man and woman. *Stance on Abortion: no abortion for convenience. *Stance on Gun Control: strongly in favor of 2nd Amendment. 3. Chris Christie. Governor of New Jersey (2010-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: believes marriage should be exclusively between man and woman. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: focus on violence control, mental health not gun control. 4. Ted Cruz. US Senator from Texas (2013-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights:  believes marriage is between man and woman but thinks legality of same-sex marriage should be left to each state to decide. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life unless pregnancy endangers mothers life. *Stance on Gun Control: supporter of gun rights. 5. Carly Fiorina. Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard (1999-2005). *Stance on LGBT Rights: supports Supreme Court ruling but personally believes marriage is between man and woman. *Stance on Abortion:  pro-life except for cases of rape, incest, or if mothers life is in danger. *Stance on Gun Control: opposes restrictions on the right to bear arms. 6. Jim Gilmore. Former Governor of Virginia (1998-2002). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposes gay marriage. *Stance on Abortion: right to abortion in first 8-12 weeks of pregnancy. *Stance on Gun Control: supports 2nd Amendment rights. 7. Lindsey Graham. US Senator from South Carolina (2003-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: marriage should be defined by states. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: thinks current gun laws are broken. Photo Credit: Getty Images   8. Mike Huckabee. Former Governor of Arkansas (1996-2007). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life unless pregnancy endangers mothers life. *Stance on Gun Control: anti-gun control. 9. Bobby Jindal. Governor of Louisiana (2008-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposed legalization of same-sex marriage. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: supports 2nd Amendment rights. 10. John Kasich. Governor of Ohio (2011-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: accepts gay marriage  even though its counter to his beliefs. *Stance on Abortion: anti-abortion. *Stance on Gun Control: opposes restrictions on 2nd Amendment. 11. George Pataki. Former Governor of New York (1995-2006). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposes same-sex marriage, supports gay and lesbian rights. *Stance on Abortion: pro-choice. *Stance on Gun Control: pro-gun control. 12. Rand Paul. US Senator from Kentucky (2011-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposes but thinks states should get to decide. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: opposes any form of gun control. 13. Rick Perry. Former Governor of Texas (2000-2015). *Stance on LGBT Rights: believes in traditional marriage. *Stance on Abortion:  pro-life except for cases of rape, incest, or if mothers life is in danger. *Stance on Gun Control:  opposes restrictions on 2nd Amendment. 14. Marco Rubio. US Senator from Florida (2011-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights:  pro-traditional marriage. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: supports 2nd Amendment. 15. Rick Santorum. Former US Senator from Pennsylvania (1995-2007). *Stance on LGBT Rights: opposes same-sex marriage legality. *Stance on Abortion: anti-abortion. *Stance on Gun Control: opposed to gun control. 16. Donald Trump. Former host of The Apprentice, real estate tycoon, author, and TV personality/celebrity. He is why you should be following news on the 2016 election because you never know what completely ridiculous thing will come out of his mouth (or hair). *Stance on LGBT Rights: doesnt support same-sex marriage. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: supports 2nd Amendment rights. 17. Scott Walker. Governor of Wisconsin (2011-present). *Stance on LGBT Rights: believe marriage is between man and woman, thinks Supreme Court ruling was a mistake. *Stance on Abortion: pro-life. *Stance on Gun Control: opposes restrictions on 2nd Amendment. There you have it a whos who of the 17 Republican presidential candidates currently campaigning. With more than 20 presidential candidates running overall, the 2016 election is starting to look like an overcrowded dinner party  and theres still time left for others to announce their candidacy and pull a chair up to the table.