In her part of Puhikura, Samantha talked about her struggles with her mental and physical health, having been put on antidepressants at the age of 18, and how enlisting with the police motivated her to improve herself and heal.
She said she felt honoured to be one of the recruits to be selected as part of the Puhikura campaign.
"I got called up, and they asked me if I was willing to participate, and I said yes.
"Being chosen from such a vast amount of people... I just feel really nice about it," she said.
Nash was born and raised in Palmerston North, but chose to be stationed in Whanganui because her partner, who is also a police officer, was already stationed here.
Before enlisting with the police, Nash was a teacher at St John's Hill school.
She had always wanted be a police officer.
"I wanted to do it to be that change that my family needed," she said.
Nash said the toughest part of the training was the need to show resilience.
"I think a lot of it comes down to resilience, having that resilience for every single training [session] was probably my hardest... There were some things I wasn't as strong in, so I just had to remain resilient."
She said graduating felt surreal and emotional.
She hoped to be a positive change for the police and for Whanganui, and to help people in the same way the police helped her.
"I just want to be that positive change where people look at police officers and they feel safe, and they have someone to come to in their darkest times, just because I know that's what helped me."
Nash and the other graduates from Police Wing 359 will begin their duties on October 30.
