You did the right thing. As for the tower controller, well, I wasn't there but....
In the old days, many controllers also flew and could appreciate what you might be going through. Early solo or not, a bumpy day present one more challenge to deal with. As wiggy says, it would be good to know what your school said to ATC. Maybe it would be good if the school spent a bit of time working with ATC (or, at least, having a chat with the boss) to ensure that the controllers appreciate the students' side of things.
I'm afraid you'll never stop the controller saying "you could have made it you had 1/4 mile" - controllers are like that! - but hopefully he or she will do it under their breath rather than on the R/T.
But relax, its your decision - and its better to go-around once or twice when it wasn't really necessary than to persevere when its all going to pieces or to just keep putting off the decision.