Alumni Feature: Natalia Melenteva – from Institut Montana to the University of Glasgow to a successful journalist at GQ Russia.

To a large extent, it was my English Literature class that motivated me to pursue this subject in my academic studies. I ended up studying Literature and Spanish at the University of Glasgow and those years were absolutely brilliant. 

Arts degrees often raise a few eyebrows and are considered to be ‘useless’ and that such a degree offers no good career paths. In reality, those degrees are like any other subjects and they are certainly not ‘easier’ just because no numbers are involved. I am thankful to my teachers at Montana who encouraged me to pursue my field of interests and set me up for success.

During and after my studies I was interning at different places. This is how I ended up writing for GQ Russia. I have been involved in journalism since my school days, but it is a field that is incredibly difficult to break into. Despite the difficult circumstances right now, I was given the opportunity to continue my work with GQ after the end of the internship. 

Condé Nast is a significant global player and working for the company has already taught me much. We should never lose our natural curiosity and the desire to become better and learn more, which many of my Montana teachers have instilled in me. Today, it helps me to become better at my job and truly enjoy what I do.

There has been said a lot about the benefits of international schools, but being a student at Montana definitely allows you to make connections that span the entire globe and from which I benefit even in my job today. Being an alumna also opens doors to many events and networking opportunities that I would not have had otherwise and that hopefully will be able to help me in my career in the future.