My dad did the same thing with a biscuit joiner back in 2009. Spent about $200 on it, used it on one bookshelf, then it sat on the shelf for years. Every time he walked past it he'd shake his head and say the setup took longer than just drilling dowels by hand. The thing is, those jigs can save time once you get the hang of them, but only if you're cutting the same size drawers over and over. For one-off projects it's just not worth the hassle of dialing everything in. You're not being stubborn, you're just being honest about what works for your shop. Maybe try it on a batch of matching drawers before you write it off for good.

1:45 is criminal, just tell them next time.

Oh man this hits home. I had a parent at conferences years ago very gently tell me she couldn't read my behavior chart because the yellow and green looked the same to her, and I felt awful. I switched to a smiley and a straight face plus different patterns and honestly it works way better than I expected. Shapes plus a pattern will always beat plain colors, good on you for listening to your student.