How much of a new students time is spent
flying in slow flight at the low end of the performance envelope?
Isn't that where all the nasty things can happen?

I spent a fair amount of time, probably close to an hour or two in
slow flight. Maybe a little longer.

I don't think it's the case that slow flight is where all the nasty
things can happen. A stall can happen at any speed in any flight
attitude, and may be worse at higher speeds in certain attitudes than
low speed, upright, straight and level.