Questions about residency?

Hello, I live in san diego california , I have never worked in the Us , my parents live in Venezuela so Im pretty alone here.When I apply for college they told I was clified as non resident from the state of california , I was born in the us. They explained to me that the residency is determined by my taxes which I dont have. Im working with a company on internet its opinionworld.co.uk im earning money and im suppossed to get a check or paypal.Altough my parents give me some money. Can I turn in these checks as taxes in order to get the residency that my college requires?