Usually a Nazirite undertook his or her vow voluntarily, for a specified period of time, and had to carefully avoid contracting ritual uncleanness through contact with a human corpse.
But it was different in the case of Samson in Judges 13-16. In what may have been the first recorded prenatal dietary counseling, the angel of the Lord announced to the wife of Manoah,
"Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" (Jdg 13:3-5).
Samson's mother went on to explain to her husband that "the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death" (verse 7). So Samson had no choice in the matter. He would be a Nazirite, and not just for some short specified period, but for his entire life.
We might also tend to think of a Nazirite as someone who would achieve some measure of self-control through abstinence from alcohol, and who would seek to develop a strong relationship with God. But Samson ended up being a violent, passionate warrior who had difficulty curbing his desires and did not possess much spiritual awareness.
During his time as a warrior he was in frequent contact with dead bodies, leading some to conclude that in his special case, he was exempt from the normal Nazirite requirement to avoid human corpses. Otherwise he would have needed to cut his hair and restart his vow frequently (Num 6:9-12), which he does not seem to have done (Jdg 16:17). Samson was not your typical Nazirite.
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