If you do not think getting up at 7 a.m. to take a bus from Van Nuys to Bakersfield to hear opera is something you would do, then you probably do not have the same motivation that drives high school Academic Decathlon teams. October 21 was the date of the annual Academic Decathlon Concert held at Rabobank Convention Center. It started at 10 a.m. Birmingham Community Charter High School senior Angel Portales was one of those, along with his team, who made the early morning bus trek from Van Nuys to Bakersfield to learn by listening. “Opera is exhilarating,” Portales said. “When the singers want to make a heroic point, it sounds heroic. I like hearing the sounds of the symphony orchestra instruments, too. But more than that, this was a great experience to hear live what we will be tested on in the music portion of the Academic Decathlon later his school year.” More