As soon as he was in the ninth grade, Zach Payne was looking forward to college.

In his first year at Lakeview Academy’s Upper School, Zach Payne discovered theatrer, performed in his first play and then decided he was good at it.

“I had never been on stage — didn’t know that I could sing, didn’t know that I could act,” the soon-to-be New York University freshman recalled. “It was kind of a whirlwind thing my freshman year; I did my first play and I just never stopped.”

Gina Bryant, Lakeview’s fine arts director, taught Payne the basics of performance theater while Payne made plans for future performances by researching colleges that would help him foster his talents.

It was an unlikely thing to do for someone who just started out in high school.

“A lot of people were looking at me weird for doing that,” Payne said.

In spite of the strange looks, Payne had big plans for himself and he wanted to make sure nothing got in the way of his dreams. He set his sights on the Big Apple and its renowned arts school, New York University.

“I was like, ‘that’s my goal; I want to get into the best (college),’” Payne said. “If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it big.”

Payne’s goal required good grades and even better performances in Lakeview’s theater troupe, and he spent the next three years making sure it was a goal he could realize.

When it came time, Payne applied for early admission to New York University last fall, which required him to fly to New York for an audition and an interview in November. One month later, Payne got word that he had been accepted to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

“Since then, I’ve been counting down the days until I move to New York City.”

The countdown ends Aug. 24, when Payne heads to New York to study film and theater acting and pursue another goal — heading to Los Angeles to pursue film roles.

Zach Payne, the son of business-minded parents Jennifer and Leroy Payne, said the couple is proud of him.

“My mom is kind of  nervous about me moving to New York by myself ... but they’re really excited for the fact that I’ve gone out and set a goal and reached it.”