Almost 12 years ago, Andr? Minors committed a crime which changed his life forever.

He stabbed his girlfriend of five years several times in broad daylight after they had an argument.

At that time, he said, he was so angry he didn't care about the consequences he faced.

"I was fearless. I didn't care. I remember that day so clearly," he told "But soon after I realised that I almost took her life. I still think about it to this day.

"From there I vowed to change my life.

"I gave my life to the Lord."

Mr. Minors, now 38, was sentenced to 16 years behind bars, but had it reduced to 11 years on appeal.

Released in 1998, he eventually married his girlfriend and is pursuing an Associate's degree in Human Services at the Bermuda College. Mr. Minors will be one of several speakers set to share their experiences at the Bermuda College rally against violence on March 28.

"My crime related to the lifestyle I chose to live.

"Consuming and selling drugs, drinking, partying," he said. "All of that plays on the psyche. You think you're invincible."

But, Mr. Minors said, while he portrayed a "thug" image to the public, internally he was feeling very insecure.

And because he was cheating on his then-girlfriend, he thought she was doing the same. "What you reap is what you sow. I was living wild and used to accuse her of a lot, foolishly. "I was under the influence and had a terrible temper," he said.

But the father-of-one said his attitude was not a result of how he was raised.

He said his mother kept a tight rein on him and his five brothers.

"Up to the age of 15, we had to be home by dark. She was very strict," Mr. Minors said.

However, he said he began to seek his freedom when he turned 16.

Already smoking marijuana since the age of 12, Mr. Minors said he eventually progressed from drinking beers to consuming hard liquor.

"I got to a certain age where I thought I was a man . First I started hanging out in the neighbourhood, then I started going sessions."

By the time he was 19, Mr. Minors had a brush with the law. According to him, he and two friends were going out and decided they wanted to save their taxi fare so they could buy more marijuana. But when they tried to snatch the driver's bank bag, Mr. Minors said he ended up stabbing him in the leg with a pen knife.

They each received 150 hours of community service as punishment. Eight years later he stabbed the mother of his child.

Expelled from Whitney Institute, Mr. Minors went on to earn his GED, O-Levels and other academic achievements.

"But the youth today don't seem to value their education. The role which they play in school reflects their attitude towards the future," he said.

After seven years of silence, Mr. Minors said his ex-girlfriend wanted to see him because she had heard about the changes he'd made in his life.

"During my last year I ended up sending her every pass I had," he said.

"We got to know each other again but I told her that if we are going to be together she would have to give her heart to the Lord."

She did. And in 2000 - with what Mr. Minors called divine intervention - they married and are now raising their daughter together.

When asked whether he thought she was afraid of him, Mr. Minors said: "We've had some challenges, but I haven't touched her since."

Upon completion of his studies, Mr. Minors said he aspired to work with young men in the community. Besides conducting prison fellowship in the prisons, he is a volunteer at the Family Learning Centre (FLC). At the FLC, Mr. Minors works with young boys, helping them to develop better social skills and other important developmental tools.

It is important to form positive attitudes in young men in order for them to become productive citizens in society, he said.

However, Mr. Minors said he believed many of Bermuda's youths lacked ambition.

"It could be from a lack of education. Some of them think, 'I'll just go out and juggle and get the money'," he said. "It's a learned behaviour. The more you're into it, the more you become it.

"I know because I lived it. They are not afraid of anything."

But although his actions caused him to spend several years behind bars, Mr. Minors said he learned a valuable lesson.

"Place a value on life. It has to be valued and we must appreciate it."

And he expressed disappointment with the rise of violence among the Island's youth.

"It saddens me because there's no future for them if they don't have any direction," Mr. Minors said. "Not only for them, but for the community."