This paper presents the findings of a qualitative and comparative study of the narrative identities of seven high-achieving rural secondary school students. A narrative inquiry approach focused on the participants' educational life stories and themes. The narratives were co-constructed through three in-depth interviews with participants. Timelines of each story were created and reviewed with participants, allowing them to elaborate on or correct researcher misunderstandings. The narratives display fully formed stable and choice narrative identities with high levels of meaning- making and redemptive narrative themes. A cross-case thematic analysis supports the theory that rural students with floater identities can translate their broad understanding of the world beyond their rurally isolated home into academic achievement. Participants displayed various levels of detachment from local culture, experiences with a rural gifted program, participation in creative activities, and mental health struggles. Participants developed imagined future life plans and worked to overcome financial and logistic barriers to opportunity pathways. This study offers a way to understand the educational experiences of marginalized rural adolescents. Keywords: rural education, rural-gifted, rural-high achiever, critical rural theory, narrative identity, meaning-making, urbanormative