It Takes Two
Siblings bring Truth to the community

By Risa G. Merl

Katie Masters, 20, is the organized overachiever, valedictorian, and community service expert. Kyle Masters, 16, is the laid-back athlete, musician, and persuasive public speaker. In many ways, this pair is as different as siblings can be, but one parallel between the two is their strong individual roles as leaders in the community and beyond.

Both have been extremely active with SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) in St. Johns County since the organization’s beginning. “Smoking was something that I cared about because it affected many of the people that I loved. SWAT gave me the chance to do something about it,” Katie says.

With a family history filled with smokers, Katie, a University of Florida student, thought it was very important to get her younger brother involved. Kyle, who attends Pedro Menendez High School in St. Augustine, says he probably wouldn’t have gotten involved with SWAT if it hadn’t been for his sister, and most likely wouldn’t have taken such a large leadership role.

Kyle gives credit to his sister for serving as an example for him over the years, one to learn from as he develops his own skills as a leader. “I didn’t do things exactly the same [as Katie], but I don’t think I’d be such a leader if she wasn’t a leader when she was younger,” Kyle says. Katie thinks that her coming first has set an example for her brother in some way, but she has also learned much from him. “We tried things, things that worked, things that were great, and things that didn’t work, too. And then he came along with totally different ideas! So, it’s been really neat to watch,” Katie says.

Both say they have very different styles when it comes to leadership. “I was always super-organized and knew when everything was and when I had to be where and I planned out my time exactly,” Katie says. “Kyle is more laid-back. He does what he needs to do, but it’s on his own schedule.” But what Kyle might lack in organization, he makes up for with his persuasive prowess. According to Katie, Kyle got the political style and personality in the family. “He’s the good-looking, clean-cut, all-American boy. He can get up and be charming and people will listen to him more,” Katie says. “That’s how it works; we see it all the time. He can get up and be completely persuasive, and he’s a really effective speaker.”

Katie and Kyle acknowledge that a large obstacle in their leadership careers has simply been their ages. Kyle is the first student to be a co-chairman of the Tobacco-Free Partnership, which serves as a partnership between the community leaders and SWAT to decide what to do on a larger level about tobacco prevention. Kyle says that just being young can be an intimidating experience for high school leaders. “Everybody always questions your authority on issues when you’re the one in charge, and people, especially adults, don’t always recognize that you’re in charge,” he says. Katie agrees that sometimes being young can be a problem. “SWAT is made up of young people who are in high school or middle school. We get out and do things, and we don’t know whether adults are intimidated by us or if they just don’t take us seriously,” she says.

Kyle has worked hard to overcome the age obstacle and achieve an authoritative position with the Partnership, and Katie has been there to cheer him on. Though Katie held an officer position with SWAT and not the Partnership, she says that she tried to keep involved. “They’re the ones that control our budget, and they’re the ones that are more respected just because there are adults involved,” she says.

As the older sibling, Katie has paved the way for Kyle. “I was going in kind of cold because I’m the older sibling, and I had to wing it and figure things out,” she says. Katie was also able to leave traditions for Kyle to take part in and improve on. For example, in 1998, Katie and a friend wrote a play in which the lead character was a tobacco-advertising executive who had gotten hooked on cigarettes at a party in the ninth grade. The play takes the character back in time, deals with the present, and shows the smoker’s future. In April 2002, Kyle took over the play, both starring in and directing it, though making changes to the play to call it his own. “Working with this play is something he wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t been around because [the play] wouldn’t have been around,” Katie says.

Besides plays, Katie also leaves expectations for Kyle to live up to. “It’s never just been Kyle, it’s always been Katie and Kyle, ‘What are they doing?’” Kyle says. “And, ‘Kyle, what’s wrong with your report card? Katie got straight A’s.” Katie explains that she was an overachiever in high school because she had her heart set on being valedictorian. “ ‘Katie is valedictorian! Kyle, why aren’t you?’” Kyle jokes.

Their ambitions in high school differ as much as their leadership styles. Besides working toward being valedictorian and having an unfaltering dedication to SWAT, Katie was very involved in community service throughout high school, volunteering for programs such as “Learn to Read” and holding down a part-time job. Kyle, on the other hand, is involved in music and athletics, apart from his time working with SWAT and the Partnership. “I never got involved in sports, and the time commitment for that is just incredible,” says Katie of her brother’s involvement as an athlete in both football and track. Katie also admires her brother’s stress-free style and says she has learned much from his more laid-back approach to leadership. “I would get very uptight about things and worry myself crazy,” she says. “And he’s so much more relaxed and still gets everything done.” She claims that her brother’s style has taught her that sometimes the best thing to do to get a job done is to just relax and have fun with it.

Their advice to up-and-coming leaders? “Be organized,” Kyle says. “Definitely prioritize your events.” Katie says that organization is important but claims that on top of that a leader must be assertive. “Don’t be afraid to talk to people, make yourself clear, because if you act like a little kid, and you talk to people like you are goofy, they’re going to treat you that way,” Katie says. “But if you’re assertive and you say what you mean to say, people will take you seriously.”

While they’ve both learned from and taught each other much, they say the greatest advantage in working together has been becoming closer. “When we were little, we never did anything together because we were in different age groups and into different things,” Katie says. When they both started SWAT Katie was in high school and Kyle was in middle school, but they still worked on projects together. “I got to know him a lot better, and I really appreciate that,” Katie says. Now they have many mutual friends. “It’s really nice to be able to go out in a group and have him along and not feel like, ‘Katie, you brought your little brother?’” she says.

Together, these siblings have strived to not only serve as excellent leaders in their community but also to spread SWAT’s message.

Contact Katie Masters at kmasters@ufl.edu, and Kyle Masters at kyleallmighty@hotmail.com.

Copyright © 2006 Oxendine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved