I remember being taken to Kumon around fifth grade. Students ranging from kindergarten to high school report to a small classroom littered with eraser shreds and sit down to fill out their own small packet filled with practice questions. For some, concentration was a problem, but I found some comfort in the repetition. After a while, multiplying fractions or doing long division became meditative, and I suddenly found myself at the end of the workbook. Now, as an undergraduate planning to major in computational science, and having moved past the foundational skills, I can see that the drilling at Kumon had a purpose. Furthermore, it is very possible that there exists a real and unlikely connection between science/math, characterized by procedures and facts, and spirituality, a term that refers to the nonmaterial and supernatural. To me, math represents certainty. If we have faith in nothing else, we know that 1+1=2. In addition, starting with a few basic applications as children, we can begin to construct more complex problems, and actually prove certain phenomena with already existing knowledge. Similarly, the broad area of science primarily consists of building and organizing knowledge of the universe. In this way, both fields require absolute facts to lay a foundation and make further discoveries possible. On the other hand, spirituality is a hard term to define, and a slippery concept. We have no tangible/observable evidence that a spirit even exists, making it virtually the opposite of math and science. A solidified definition of being spiritual is “of, concerned with, or affecting the soul”, which can be interpreted as the pursuit of a pure soul. It should be noted that not just anyone has the luxury of being troubled with how their soul feels. Only those who enjoy every other measure of wellbeing can begin to concern themselves with ‘self-actualization’, characterized by reaching one’s potential and creative endeavors. One well-known approach to reaching this state is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where just above the most basic physiological needs comes the requirement of safety needs. An individual has to feel safe before climbing higher towards the peak, or in other words becoming more spiritual. As a result of how we use math and science to understand the world around us, they provide exactly the kind of security and stability required in the hierarchy of needs. Just like what I noticed while working through practice problems years ago, there is a calming effect that follows being absolutely certain of something. In math, each problem must have a correct answer, and it is because of science that we know what the weather will be tomorrow, or that Earth will not be hit by a meteor any second. This reassurance offers a sense of security, so that people can concentrate on building relationships or math homework instead. In closing, math and science establish a basic level of security and safety, which allows the most fortunate among us to turn our efforts towards reaching higher, and perhaps spiritual goals.