September 11, 2026
Provide Image/Xfinity/Marcus Quinn
Marcus Quinn, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, went viral in May for a video showing how he transformed his 80-square-foot dorm room.
A University of Pennsylvania student known for tricking out his tiny dorm room was named the winner of an online competition for social media creators.
Marcus Hirschman, a 20-year-old sophomore architecture and design student who goes by Marcus Quinn online, won Xfinity's "Best in Class," taking home a prize of a $100,000 brand deal with the internet provider. The seven-episode series premiered Aug. 5 on Instagram and TikTok and the finale aired Thursday.
In the series, Quinn competed against five other college student creators who worked in different niches: lifestyle, gaming, cooking, athletics and beauty. The six contestants paired up for various challenges, such as creating an outfit and makeup look for a "Get Ready With Me," unboxing a package blindfolded and creating a moving digital icon.
Quinn said working with a partner was more difficult than he thought, since each creator has their own ideas about the video they want to make and what will connect with audiences. That meant they had to merge styles in real-time. He added that it was also the first time he got feedback on his work, which let him adapt and grow.
"We were constantly having to reconcile all these differences with our visions for the videos, it was something that none of us had experienced before and it definitely took a few challenges to get used to," Quinn said. "Just being able to see someone else's perspective is really going to benefit me in the future when posting a video."
Host Katie Feeney, a fellow content creator, said Quinn's point of view came across in both the narrative and quality of his final videos. However, she said what really stuck out about him was his heart and love for his fellow contestants.
Quinn competed in the show as a creator specializing in design. In May, he went viral for videos of his University City dorm, which showed the standard single transformed with art, storage and plants. He designed the 80-square-foot room in Japandi and midcentury modern styles and added some solutions like a collapsable ottoman to make the space function better. One of the videos has over 4 million views on TikTok.
"I wanted to make my space feel not like a dorm room or something that is kind of uniquely myself," Quinn said.
With such a small room, Quinn said he had to focus on maximizing vertical space with wall hooks, tiered shelves and a high bed that fit a fridge, shoes and clothes underneath. Creating a cohesive space, too, was something that took a little bit of time.
"I am the type of person who really likes to go all in and buy everything at once, but then things clash with each other. You really have to do one thing, like even the bedding, and then see what matches and go from there," Quinn said.
Quinn said that while he came in to the competition as a design-focused content creator, he learned that he hadn't been posting frequently enough and that he often strayed from his preferred genre. Following the competition, he hopes to get better in both of those aspects, and he feels like he's found more of his purpose in the online space.
Quinn said he's always loved creating videos, even if it was just for his family, and he sees a lot of overlap between interior design and content creation.
"Social media and content creation, while it's been something that I've done as a hobby, I think being on the show and realizing that I could turn that into a potential career was really unique," Quinn said.
