 After graduating from the lower high school in Ptuj, he enrolled in the classical gymnasium in Maribor; he was the first generation of students who took their courses entirely in Slovene (before that, courses were still partially taught in German).During his high school years in Maribor, he joined a group of young Christian socialists who wanted to continue the legacy of both the Slovene Christian socialist political activist and thinker Janez Evangelist Krek, and the Social democratic author Ivan Cankar.This young Catholic movement was inspired by the German Catholic theologian and philosopher Romano Guardini.