In this study, individual students' engagement in learning mathematics in different contexts was explored. The students' narrated identities during their first compulsory upper secondary mathematics course provided a way to understand students' shifts in participation and why these shifts occurred in different contexts at particular times. Identity narratives such as that of being a "maths hater" were linked to the learning opportunities. The connections between identity narratives and contexts suggest that how students are categorised in mathematics education needs to be queried, as these categorisations have an impact on students' learning of mathematics.