An ethnographic case study was done of a Hispanic American male high school student of limited English proficiency in order to present a description of the experience of a minority student adapting to and coping with U.S. school culture. The student was a 15-year old male who recently arrived in the United States from Cuba and attended the 10th grade in a central Virginia high school. Data were collected through observations in the classroom and ethnographic interviews to discover the cultural and linguistic factors affecting the student's progress in school. Results of data analysis and interpretation include the following: (1) although the student exhibited some at-risk characteristics and encountered many cultural discontinuities, he was succeeding in school; (2) the student's American peer group and some of his teachers exhibited a lack of cultural sensitivity; (3) the student's personal initiative, cognitive strengths, and playful interactive style enabled him to succeed in the classroom; (4) due to a desire to achieve in school, the student appeared able to overcome discontinuities between host and heritage cultures and struggles with his identity; and (5) the teacher in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class used cooperative learning and other group techniques to compensate for the lack of community. Included are 1 appendix on ethnography and 15 references. (JB)