This paper explores how a transnational emergent multilingual (TEM) student established himself in relation to his teacher and peers in a culturally and linguistically diverse, sheltered English Instruction classroom. Specifically, it documents how the student initiated translingual and cross-cultural social interactions positioning himself as a linguistically-agile member of the classroom community. Using positioning and translanguaging theory, the analysis illustrates how the student's translingual, cross-cultural interactions allowed him to build relationships and reposition himself in the face of school-imposed labels that otherwise positioned him as linguistically-lacking. Findings illustrate how the student strategically created opportunities to use his entire linguistic repertoire and suggest the need to consider alternatives to deficit-oriented school-imposed labels placed upon TEMs.