THROUGH A STUDENT LENS: PERCEPTION AND LIVED EXPERIENCES OF THE WATER CRISIS IN THE COMMUNITY

Aims: The study explores the perceptions and lived experiences of students, offering a unique perspective on how water scarcity influences their lives and shapes their understanding of environmental issues in their community. Study design: The study used a descriptive correlational research design and regression analysis with 334 respondents. Methodology: The study explores the perceptions and lived experiences of students, offering a unique perspective on how water scarcity influences their lives and shapes their understanding of environmental issues in their community. The study used descriptive correlational research design and regression analysis with 334 respondents. Results: The results of the study revealed that more of the respondents were females, the majority were in the range of 18-20 years old, the majority were single, the majority had a course in Business Administration, and most of the student’s parents earned less than 9,999 php as their monthly income. The perception of the water crisis in the community had an overall mean of 3.63, lived experiences of the water crisis in the community had 3.54, and the community impact of the water crisis had 3.60, all indicators described as “always aware”. Conclusion: The study concluded that there was a significant difference in the community impact as observed by the students when they were grouped according to their profile and there was a significant relationship between respondents’ perception of the water crisis and the community impact.