A couple of months ago, I came across a public service announcement indicating the need for election workers in Santa Barbara County.

I decided it would be a worthwhile service and talked four other members of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara-Sunrise into joining me to sign up.

Little did we know how much time would be required with online and in-person training, polling site setup and more than 16 hours (6 a.m.-9 p.m.) on Election Day.

I have kiddingly noted that the very modest payment (which we are all donating back to our Rotary Club Foundation) worked out to about $2 an hour — and wondered if the California minimum wage should apply.

But money wasn’t the point. Our goal was consistent with Rotary’s “Service Above Self” motto and supporting our country’s democratic process.

The real reward came in helping the voters, however. We were assigned to UC Santa Barbara’s Santa Catalina Residence Hall on El Colegio Road in Isla Vista.

We five Rotarians were all new to this and, fortunately, we had an experienced supervisor and inspector along with an experienced “floater,” plus our very good training to make this work.

Still, we had no idea what to expect. We were amazed to have a steady stream of young, mostly first-timevoters from 7 a.m. when the polls opened until they closed at 8 p.m. — sometimes even very long lines.

And because they were first-year college students, a very high percentage had to update their registrations due to address changes and having been assigned to other polling sites.

That meant filling out forms, working with we poll workers to update their records, and then being able to vote provisional ballots.

My job was to hand each voter a ballot and explain the voting procedures. And that’s when the fun started for me.

Almost every young person came up to me (after patiently working through the lines, paperwork and registration updating) with a BIG SMILE.

I could just tell they were first-time voters — so I asked them. They would get an even bigger smile and say yes. I would then ask if they were excited about voting for the first time. Again, a BIG SMILE and yes.

We would given them their ballot, direct them to a voting both, and explain where to deposit their completed ballot.

Every one of these young people were happy, excited, appreciative and courteous. My fellow poll co-workers all noted the same and, despite the very long day, left energized by this interaction.

Bottom line: We all came away optimistic about the future of our country and democracy in the hands of these young people, wishing all of us felt the same way about the privilege we have of living in a democratic society, and hopeful everyone can accept election outcomes regardless of whether your choices won or lost.

We are very lucky to be Americans!