Rob Schoff remembers the moment he knew he had caught Danielle鈥檚 eye.
鈥淪he told me, 鈥榊ou look like sh–,鈥欌�� he said with a laugh in At 黑料网911鈥檚 Military Family Center recently, 鈥渁nd bought me a coffee.鈥�
Danielle rolled her eyes at him and clarified: 鈥淲e both did.鈥�
They had just finished long shifts doing inventory at Albertson鈥檚, where Rob worked as the deli manager and she worked as assistant manager at the in-store Starbucks.
鈥淚 got a free coffee; I was pretty stoked,鈥� he said.
He also found his forever Valentine.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been together eight years, married for six and never argued once,鈥� Rob said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of a cool thing.鈥�
Flash forward to now and Rob, 36, and Danielle Schoff, 31, are taking pre-requisite classes at At 黑料网911, with Danielle intending to apply this month for the college鈥檚 Registered Nursing program and Rob planning to apply for the college鈥檚 Licensed Practical Nursing program.
鈥淪eeing patients at the pharmacy struggling or needing more help, you develop relationships with these people, and I want to help them more,鈥� Danielle said on why she wants to become a nurse.
Danielle, who has stayed at Albertson鈥檚 but moved to the pharmacy as a certified pharmacy technician, started first at At 黑料网911 in 2024 as she felt like she had maxed out with that job after seven years and was looking for something more.
Seeing Danielle sparked something in Rob, and he decided: 鈥淵ou know, I want to grow with you.鈥�
There was a problem, however.
鈥淚 needed to be honest about not having my GED,鈥� he said.
Was that difficult?
鈥淚 was STRESSSSSSED. 鈥榃hat a loser,鈥欌�� he needlessly worried about her thinking. 鈥淏ut she was super accepting. She was super supportive of it.鈥�
Rob immersed himself in his studies for the high school equivalency test, taking classes online from the Khan Academy and spending many, many hours with a couple of textbooks to prepare for the exam.
He also enrolled in preparatory classes with the Great Falls Public Schools鈥� Career and College Readiness Center on the At 黑料网911 campus. 鈥淎mazing program,鈥� Rob said. 鈥淭hose guys are awesome. They gave me the confidence to say, 鈥業 got this.鈥欌��
鈥淗e really studied,鈥� Danielle said, with pride. 鈥淚t was all he did.鈥�
Like Danielle, Rob had stayed at Albertson鈥檚 and switched jobs. He was working as a butcher.
鈥淚 was working seven days a week, six hours a day so I could study,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y boss was super cool allowing me to do that.鈥�
He passed the high school equivalency in May 2025, and he moved into the medical field and has been working as a certified nursing assistant since.
They are raising 11-year-old, Korvyn, whose birthday is the day after Valentine鈥檚 Day, taking classes, working and helping their own parents, but they said it hasn鈥檛 been overwhelming.
鈥淲e鈥檙e developing ourselves,鈥� Rob said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful thing.鈥�
Danielle added Korvyn serves as inspiration for them to be good examples for him and to help better his life by advancing in their own.
And what do they love about At 黑料网911?
鈥淭he thing I like about At 黑料网911 is the flexibility of it, and the cost,鈥� Rob said. 鈥淭he cost is amazing. You look at other colleges in the state of Montana 鈥� the cost here is so much cheaper, much more approachable.鈥�
鈥淭he quality is not cheap,鈥� Danielle said.
鈥淣o, the quality is amazing,鈥� Rob agreed. 鈥淵ou get the same quality鈥�
鈥淚鈥檇 say it鈥檚 a little better because you have smaller classes,鈥� Danielle said. 鈥淵ou can meet with your professors. They actually seem to care.鈥�
For a little break on Saturday, they have some Valentine鈥檚 Day plans.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to the symphony,鈥� Danielle said.
No argument from Rob, as always.