26 http:/ijhss.net/index.php/ijhss International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 14, No. 2 (2022), pp. 26-35, ©IJHSS https://doi.org/10.26803/ijhss.14.2.3 The Lived Experiences of the Graduate School Students in using Off-Campus Internet Facilities as an Alternative Source for Research Activities: A Phenomenological Inquiry Fe Nangcas Jalon - de la Cruz, RL, MLIS St. Francis Xavier College San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Philippines Abstract The objective of this study was to examine and explore the lived experiences of the graduate school students who frequently used off-campus internet facilities for their research activities. It utilized the qualitative method by means of phenomenological inquiry. A total of 21 participants were interviewed, ten for in-depth and eleven for focus group discussions. Use was made of research questions carefully formulated to elicit more responses from the interviewees. Both positive and negative aspects of their experiences were highlighted in this paper's findings. The accessibility to all websites, availability, longer use of the internet, and comfort in using facilities and gadgets emerged as favorable while expensive facility services; noisy, crowded and unsafe environment; unreliability of information; vulnerability of computer units to viruses that could infect flash drives; susceptibility to power interruption; and lack of privacy appeared to be their unfavorable experiences. These results implied the urgency of creating a deeper study on the lived experiences of the students to include the actual conditions of the university on-campus internet facility as a sequel to this investigation. Keywords: phenomenology; qualitative research; off-campus internet facility; Wi-Fi; research activities 1. Introduction Technology has improved to the point where it now propels the expansion of businesses. Companies take advantage of this to increase performance, for which they seek out tech-savvy candidates that can provide value to their organizations. In keeping with this, education at school provides a solid background for future careers by incorporating technology into their system that can benefit the students through their materials, online facilities, and dedicated computer rooms. For today's youth are digital natives when it comes to their studies (ChildHope Philippines, 2021). With this phenomenon in mind, this study was conducted to investigate the lived experiences of the graduate school students in using off-campus internet facilities as an alternative source in their research. The researcher documented the sentiments of students relating to the inadequacies of computers and internet connectivity at the university. Their struggling to use the internet facilities on the campus forced them to rely on the internet home-based broadband in offices, internet cafés, Wi-Fi zone areas, handheld pocket Wi-Fi and mobile-equipped internet gadgets for research. After