Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton aren’t the only ones busy prepping for Monday night’s debate. NY1 will be broadcasting live from Hofstra University on Long Island, where everyone from the media to student volunteers are busy getting ready for what could be the most watched presidential debate of of all time. Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Come Monday night, the nation will turn its eyes to the David Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at Hofstra University, where crews are transforming the arena into a debate set.

For Hofstra, the drill is a familiar one. The school also hosted debates in 2008 and in 2012, though this time around, it was short notice. Hofstra was tapped just nine weeks ago, after Wright State in Ohio backed out, citing security costs.

"We look at this as a great opportunity for our students. But we also look at is as a service to the country," said Melissa Connolly, VP of university relations at Hofstra University.

On Monday night, NY1 will be broadcasting live from here, among an estimated 3- to 4,000 members of the media that Hofstra says it expects on campus, the vast majority of whom won;t be inside the arena, but rather in a media filing center."

The workspace will also double as a post-debate spin room, where campaign surrogates come to hype their candidates. Inside the arena, there will be only about 1,000 seats, with allotments made to the two campaigns, the organizing Commission on Presidential Debates and to Hofstra, which will distribute its entire share to students via lottery. 

"Really, the event is done for the television audience here in the U.S. and around the world," Connolly said. "And what they build inside the arena is sort of like a television studio with a live audience, right. So the seat count's in the hundreds. It's not thousands of people."

Around campus, meanwhile, it's a flurry of activity, with networks building out sets. For students, about 400 of whom signed up to volunteer, it has the feel of a circus come to town.

"It's kind of a give and take, because there's parking closures and things, but at the same time, you get to watch all of this history being made right in front of us. So it;s pretty cool," said student volunteer Emily Levine.

"There's like cameras and newsroom people are setting up in where we usually park. So it's really surreal, and like insane, that in a matter of days, that's going to be full stages, and then in a matter of a couple of days, it'll just be another parking lot again," said student volunteer Madison Wright.