He loved listening to the tales of courage and adventure on the sea. After this Jack again went home to help his family get out of debt and accepted a job working in a mill for $.10 an hour. It was at this time that he got his first taste of writing by entering a sea yarn in a writing contest sponsored by the local paper. He won first prize and $25. Jack soon became tired of common labor and became interested in the Socialist Party and began protesting for political reform. Jack was raised in poverty; he knew hunger and the struggles of those who were the common laborers. He felt that those who worked the hardest and longest were the ones living in poverty. He believed in work guaranteed for all, that all wealth should be owned collectively. Jack became a hobo and rode the rails living day to day. To Jack the life of a tramp was exciting because everything was always changing and the unexpected was always happening. He has to spend some time in prison for being a vagrant. It was at this stage of his live that Jack became a storyteller. He would tell stories for food. It was the poor who were always the most giving of what they had. Jack began to keep a journal of his adventures. When nineteen, Jack decided he wanted to become a writer. He wanted to complete his education. He went back to high school but didn't fit in even though he made a's and b's. He left after two years and prepared himself for college entrance exams. He passed and was accepted to University of California. He stayed there for only one semester before having to drop out. It is believed he did this due to lack of money and the ill health of his stepfather. .
Gold was discovered in the Klondike and In March 1897 Jack borrowed some money from his stepsister and went to the Klondike to find gold. This was the most important period of his life. When he came back home after one year he did not have any gold, but many ideas and inspirations for the stories and novels that made him famous.