July

Josh Owen and Seth Barnes were talking about the schools they attended growing up. The lectures were boring. Sitting at a desk all day was boring. They realized they shared a dream: Create a school where learning was driven by passion, where class was fun, where lessons were learned by doing things instead of listening to someone talk. They thought about the crisis in higher education – students going into debt and losing their faith. Seth created training organizations before that changed the life trajectory of the young people who went through them. Why not create a school that would address the need for a model of higher education that would be completely different – and a full level better than the one in existence?

December

Wanting to keep costs down and give students an experiential understanding of a Biblical worldview, Josh and Seth decided to locate the school overseas. Wanting to give students practical experience, they decided to keep the mentor-student ratio at 1:3.

January

Realizing that they would need an experienced partner to help them to disciple their students, they turned to the World Race. In January of 2019, they began recruiting the first class. Josh and Seth were determined to recruit a class that was propelled by their curiosity, strong in their faith, and driven by a good work ethic.

September

It’s time to start! After spending a year building the class and recruiting mentors, they launched the Alpha Class by hiking the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain for two weeks.