Specific word for the joy of being in like-minded company or those you feel connected to?

Question

Is there a word that specifically describes the feeling of being in the company of others that for some reason you feel connected to? The idea of when someone shares that they 'found their people' or are 'amongst their people'?

For instance - I went off to college and for once in my life I felt a sense of ______. I had found my people.

The feeling of walking into a room and knowing that the people are going to 'get' you. Relief mixed with joy mixed with belonging.

A few things options I considered- Acceptance - I didn't care for this as it brings a sense of something being wrong, or unacceptable, in other situations. I don't want to convey the sentiment that someone was un-whole before.

Belonging - I think this is close, but doesn't elicit the sense of joy that someone feels when walking into a room and feeling the immediate sense of kinship.

Answer 1

A sense of community.

Definition 3 of community from AHD:

a. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.

b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship: a sense of community.

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=community

Answer 2

I would say a sense of fellowship:

Fellowship is a friendly feeling that exists between people who have a shared interest or who do something as a group:

• I like the game, and I enjoy the fellowship of the guys on the team. (Cambridge)

Collins also records this meaning and gives as an example:

...a sense of community and fellowship.

Answer 3

Does “fellow feeling” fit the bill? Here is one definition:

a feeling of community of interest or of mutual understanding. (Merriam-Webster, online)

Answer 4

Try this idiom:

feel at home

I went off to college and for once in my life I felt at home. I had found my people.

Here are a couple of definitions at The Free Dictionary, from Farlex Dictionary of Idioms and McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs respectively:

To feel very comfortable in a particular group, setting, or place.

To feel as if one belongs; to feel as if one were in one's home; to feel accepted.

Answer 5

comradery/camaraderie

A feeling of friendliness, goodwill, and familiarity among the people in a group : CAMARADERIE m-w

Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.
a genuine camaraderie on the hockey team Lexico

We need to keep in mind that rapport is a feeling, a nebulous sensation that can't be specifically defined...This commonality can take on a broader meaning based on an individual's core layers of similarity, or it can simply come as a result of a more immediate sense of camaraderie, like a weather-related delay at the airport. ref

In college I joined a fraternity, which gave me an immediate sense of camaraderie and acceptance because everyone went through the same grueling six weeks of pledging. ref.

But the cameraderie among the night drivers was truly amazing. Everyone knew everyone else and, if any of the guys were in trouble...A lot of the cameraderie has all but disappeared in the frenetic pace of today's world. ref.