Whirly: that makes two of us who aren't typical
I could have written a post with exactly the same words that you used.
Back when I was 16 (late 60's) I got quite excited about my first solo in a glider but I'd done the bare minimum of launches and shortly beforehand someone landed with rather a lot of winch cable stuck in one wing.
The first solos in later life (f/w, r/w and gliding (again)) were a little ho-hum; first solo being lost (sorry, nav-ex) and first solo in an airway meant much more.
Like you, I now get far more excited about my stude's first solo steps than I ever did about my own.
HFD