It’s no secret that here at Enloe, we’re a community full of talented, intelligent, and ambitious people. We’re full of people who are going somewhere, but it’s rare to find someone who knows where they’re aiming. Yet that’s not true with Zac Goldstein. Self-possessed, kind, and caring, Zac has a confidence and assuredness that stands out. With his unique dedication, Zac’s impact on Enloe and our community is impossible to completely capture. But we can try!
Zac’s commitments at Enloe can be found in the auditorium, both on stage and behind it. His love for theater started young, deciding to start acting as a kid after watching his sister in a production. His skills were sharp enough to join our highest level of theater class, Acting Ensemble, by his junior year. Having acted in many productions, from plays to musicals, he says one stands out as his favorite. “My favorite has been the AE show last year, Putnam County Spelling Bee. It’s a comedy and it’s a musical…it’s one of the most fun things I’ve done in my life.” Zac says it allowed him to improvise a lot, since the production included unpredictable audience participation. He explains, “I’m not the best improv guy…but when it’s in the show and I get an opportunity to go off book a little bit, that makes me happy.”
Behind the curtains of Enloe theater, Zac’s influence is immeasurable as the set crew head and run crew chief. On how he got his start in tech theater, Zac says, “I’ve always had an interest in sets…I would always get distracted watching shows, looking behind the actors.” Now as a set designer, he’s learned the essential skill of balancing practicality and aesthetic, saying the end goal is a set that enhances the show and makes it easier for audiences to understand. He cites the set from 2024’s Fall Play, Radium Girls, as one of his proudest moments as a set designer; specifically, the numerals over the stage that created the look of the clock. Zac says, “[When] I heard the show we were doing, I knew a little bit about the Radium Girls’ story, and the first thing I did was go into sketchup and sketch the clock…working with the sound people and light people to make it tick…it really brought the show together.” Gibson Wood, Enloe’s stage manager, says, “Zac is one of the most dedicated and hardworking people that I know. He never leaves a project unfinished.” Matthew Penny, Zac’s co-set designer says, “Zac is a great friend…and a great designer to work with, we’re having a lot of fun.” Working and contributing to Enloe’s theater department on both sides has undoubtedly shaped the work Zac does and who he is today. Zac’s dedication to theater and art is apparent from his countless hours, blood, sweat and tears he’s given to the Enloe theater department.
According to Zac, when he’s not home or in the auditorium, he’s at his Temple. He says teaching Sunday school helped him discover his love of education, “I grew up going to that religious school, I loved learning and then I found out that I love teaching.” In addition to teaching at his temple, Zac works summers as a camp counselor. He says his people skills are due to working with kids, saying “It’s taught me how to get on someone’s level.” He goes on to say, “kids don’t think as rationally as older people, you have to learn how to work with them based on the ways they think…teaching kids has taught me that if something I’m doing with the class isn’t really working, it’s not because of me, I just have to try something different.” Being able to work with people, no matter the age, is an incredibly important skill, one Zac has undoubtedly polished.
Enloe is a rigorous place. It’s super easy to lose yourself in the onslaught of extracurriculars and classes, but Zac has managed to stay strikingly grounded. He says if there was one thing he could tell his freshman self it would be, “Your self worth is not based on any number, especially not your grades, and especially not the grades of your peers.” He says, “Sometimes, especially at Enloe, we’re thinking ‘oh I just need to lock in now and then in college I can have fun’, and then you go to college and think ‘I’ll just lock in now and then when I get out of college I’ll have fun,’ then you end up never having a good time and you’re always stressed out.” His philosophy in life is rooted in living on your own terms, he says, “A lot of times in my life, I haven’t done things that would’ve made me happy or I would have enjoyed because I was scared of being weird.” Zac sums up his worldview by saying, “High School is just not that serious.”
Zac has done a lot for our school and his community just on paper, but what those closest to him emphasize is the impact of him simply as a person. “Zac is my better half,” says his twin sister, Zoe Goldstein, “I’ve learned so much from him. He is incredibly insightful and kind, nonjudgmental, and patient.” Gibson concludes, “He genuinely cares about what others have to say, Zac makes everyone feel heard and appreciated…you can’t help but want to be his friend, there’s not a person in his community that doesn’t know and love him.” Zac says he hopes that after Enloe he’ll major in History, either at Tulane or UNC Chapel Hill. It’s sure that wherever he lands, in the next four years and beyond, he’ll shape his community with the same warmth and passion as he did here. Good luck Zac!
