In 1934 he leaves Concepcion and travels to Iquique, in the north of Chile, where he continues his secondary education. Two years later he starts to contribute to “El Tarapaca”, a newspaper that becomes his tribune for his poems and essays. The same year he returns to Concepcion, where he founds the magazine “Letras” (Letters) in the Boys’ Secondary School.

He studies Law at the Universidad de Chile but in his second year he decides to apply to and enter the Teachers’ College at the same university.In 1938 with great creative vocation he joins the Chilean surrealist group “Mandragora” and actively participates in the national literary work of the so-called 38 Generation. At the same time, in order to pay for his studies, he works as an inspector for the “Instituto Barros Arana” School.