Kailey Moncrief is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Ironwood High School for AZPreps365.com.

People are always looking at successful people and wondering how they got to where they are. Were they always this driven? What are the characteristics that made them so successful? Don't you wish you could go back in time and talk to them when they were young?

What you are about to witness is the beginning of what could be an amazing success story.

Kennedy Jennings is a senior at Ironwood High School, but she's no ordinary teenager. Jennings is the student body president, cheer captain, a member of the National Honors Society and she was elected this year's Homecoming queen.

Going into high school, Jennings knew that she wanted to be active in student council and she wanted to one day be the student body president.

"It's something that I've thought about since I was very little,'' Jennings said. "It was never something that I really thought would ever happen, it was just a goal, but here I am now and I'm very happy that I was able to make it here."

Although she had student-council experience prior to high school, she came into cheerleading with no experience but was eager to give it her best shot. She had set a goal to be the JV captain during her sophomore season, but instead, she was asked to join the varsity team.

Head coach Rachell May saw Jennings' potential from the beginning, saying that she knew she would be a varsity captain from the first day she met her.

"She just always had that leadership and that genuine need for making the program better," May said.

Jennings is described as intelligent and talented, but her personality is what has helped her make such an impact on those around her. She wants to continue making a difference and continue to help people in the next stages of her life. Jennings hopes to attend the University of Arizona as a prelaw major with a minor in political science,

"Eventually I do want to get into politics and become the governor of Arizona," she said.

Jennings has a clear vision for what she hopes to achieve in the future, should she reach her goal of becoming an Arizona governor:

"I just want to help people,'' she said. "I can't expect to see a change if I'm not the one making it. You have to be the change you want to see."

Her father, Craig Jennings, has seen her potential ever since she was little and knows that she has the potential to achieve anything she sets her mind to.

"None of what she's accomplished so far and nothing that she's going to accomplish in the future will surprise me,'' he said.

 He hopes that she will continue to help people as she makes her way into the world.

 "She's thought a lot about what she wants to do and I know that she wants to make an impact on her community,'' he said. "I think that she's going to go into some level of public service whether that's in politics or whether that's a career in law."

As Jennings wraps up her final months in high school, she will be leaving with no regrets. However, her coaches, teachers and the remaining student body will definitely feel her absence.

"Already we've had people say, 'What are we going to do?'" May said.

As she moves on from the halls of Ironwood High School, Jennings is leaving behind a legacy.

If you spend time on the Ironwood campus, you can sense the love and respect that exudes from others when her name is mentioned and even after she graduates, there is no doubt that you will hear the name "Kennedy Jennings" again

Maybe even as governor.