COEUR d'ALENE - Melissa Stroh works from the Idaho State Police Regional Communication Center in Coeur d'Alene, managing operations of 13 dispatchers, covering one third of Idaho.

"I like that no day is the same," said Stroh. "It's rewarding when you get to help people."

The downside of the job, she says, is when people get hurt.

Stroh has some personal experience with that. Her husband Eric is an Iraq War veteran whose leg below the knee was shattered in 2006, the result of an improvised explosive device that hit his vehicle.

He is now medically retired from the military and has built a supportive network locally of others who have served. As he works to rehabilitate, Melissa Stroh also is redefining herself.

She was drawn to Coeur d'Alene in 2002 from Pocatello by the beauty of place and the affordable education offered at North Idaho College. While they both worked for the Idaho State Police, Melissa also attended school, earning an interdisciplinary degree in business and communication in 2008.

Then she thought she might follow in her dad's footsteps and become an attorney.

"I originally applied and was accepted to University of Idaho Law School," said Stroh. "I deferred for a year. With my husband in the military and being hurt, we just couldn't finance it. He was required to be in Coeur d'Alene, where he was receiving medical care, and I would have had to move to Moscow."

While searching for a way to make it work, Stroh got in contact with John Sawyer, then serving as University of Idaho's Veterans' Affairs Officer. He told her about the University's Operation Education program, which provides full scholarships for injured vets, or their spouses.

"I received the Pat Tillman Foundation scholarship through Operation Education," Stroh said.

Then she began to explore educational and career options that could keep her family in Coeur d'Alene.

"The EMBA program fit my needs and interests," she said.

While pursuing her education, she also has found a support network.

"The greatest joys of the program are interacting with other executives and learning from their experience," Stroh said. "It's a pretty tight knit group and a sounding board, and you just have to have that base. I have strengths that others don't and others have strengths that I don't."

As working professionals, EMBA students all speak from experience. In terms of sharing that experience, what happens in the classroom stays in the classroom:

"When they started the program they said we want people to be able to share information, and that it doesn't leave," Stroh said. "Within our group I don't think that there's any hesitation to share information and experiences. We all talk about issues that we've had, in a confidential manner."

One of the challenges of the program is that it meets only once a month on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Stroh said.

"There's a lot of material to cover in three days," she said. "Trying to learn it and retain it, sometimes that's a struggle, especially if you haven't been exposed to some of the financial material."

Fortunately, because of the integrated nature of the program, students often get to look at one facet of business from several perspectives.

"This weekend we had law professors teaching us negation and conflict resolution, including how to negotiate wages, which are things we may experiences as management," she said. "The class was taught by UI law professors Maureen Laflin and Patrick Costello. They were great. It was a fun weekend. There are some top notch professors in the program."

For her EMBA thesis project, Stroh is identifying the needs of veterans transitioning from combat to school. She has gathered data from many universities and colleges to see what's successful, and what's not, in their veterans' programs.

The result will be a business model she will share with University of Idaho and with other Tillman Foundation schools, to help implement new approaches and more effectively manage their programs.

While her work is giving back to veterans, and to the university, her education is also meeting her goal as she redefines herself as the family breadwinner.

"It's giving me the tools I need to support my family," Stroh said.