The passage from adolescence to adulthood of a group of young Latino immigrants, all of whom attended a Washington (District of Columbia) high school called the Multicultural Career Intern Program (MCIP) in the 1980s, is traced. Background and circumstances suggested that these youths were at-risk, but most made good use of their MCIP-related opportunities to rise from the poverty in which they lived when they arrived in the United States from war-torn Central America. The history of Hispanic populations in the District of Columbia is reviewed, and the effects of educational and career development programs on this population are explored. School ethnography and the role of schooling in acculturation are examined. The implications of public policy for advancement are considered, and the differing opportunities for women and men are considered. The chronological narrative brings these young adults from resettlement through schooling, work, and cultural and social integration in a 6-year longitudinal study. Schools with strong ties to the communities they serve and good access to resources beyond can effectively prepare at-risk youth for the future. With an explicitly multicultural curriculum, schools can prepare students to function in an environment of cultural diversity, maintaining respect for the students' own heritage as well as the culture of others. With the active collaboration of business, government, and the professions, schools can empower their students to more fully participate in the economic and social institutions of society. (Contains 90 references.) (SLD)